Watching the movie up close
by CandyKaty
Summary: Oh Thor, this is crazy. I admit, I've seen this movie more time than it's probaply healthy but this is ridiculous! Being stuck in Berk untill the movie is over! I never saw this one coming!
1. That's not a good sign

**Hello, people of Earth and other planets I'm too lazy to list right now! I'd like to thank you for reading this crap of mine I call writing, means a lot. Anyway, please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes, English is my second languege and I never was good in spelling, even in my mother tongue. Also, they'll be a lot of refferences in different movies, books, anime and cartoon because of how the protagonst is (you'll get when you read). I'll expain everything in the end of the chap, just warning and now... READ THE STORY OR I'LL SEND PEST AFTER YOU! (green Terror roaring)**

* * *

"Hurry up, flea bag!"

"Comin' comin'!"

That was my little sister, Alex as she prefers to be called, though her full name is Alexadra, calling out to me. It's Friday and like every day, I pick her up from school to walk back home together. She's in 6th grade and I'm in 8th so we go to different schools.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the flea bag thing, I call her that when I wanna annoy her. She uses the puppy eyes look when she wants me to do do her a favor (not that it works) so that's her nickname.

And now your probaply wondering who's the weirdo telling you the story of her life. My name's Irene**(1) **and I'm 14 years old. I live with my parents and younger sister. I have short dark brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. Just a normal Greek girl really.**  
**

Well, acording to my friends, I'm far from normal and acording to my sister, I'm probaply from another planet. I'm a huge bookworm. Not the 'straight A' one, no, thought I do have good grades. The 'give me a book, dried food and water and I'm good' kind. They should seriously pay for all the reading I do. I'm also crazy for cortoons and anime. Most people I know would say I'm too old to watch cartoon, well screw them! I love cartoon and I can pictere me in my eighties wacthing cartoon really cleary. As for anime, I'm pretty sure I one of the handful of people in Greece that know what anime is. They might have seen anime before but the think it's just cartoon drawn differently.

And now, back to reality. I'm now walking home with my hood up, listening to my music, anime opening songs to be specific, as my sister tells me about her day, not that I'm listening or anything.

After a while, or the time needed to hear the 10 first opening songs of Fairy Tail, we're home.

_...for You donna kimi mo zutto daisuki dayo yakusoku suru kara_

_Everybody Jump Up Everybody Hands Up Everybody Pump Up**(2)**_

Ah, I love that song.

* * *

_"...fighting dreamers __Narifuri kamawazu __Fighting Dreamers __Shinjiru ga mama ni __Oli Oli Oli Oh-!"**(3)**_

I re-enter my room, a towel around my wet hair since I just took a bath, mumuring 'GO!'. And just to be clear, I already wear clothes, perverts!

Today I have no running practice so it's time to do some writting. I jump on my bed and take the towel of my hair, running my hands through it. I take my trusty tablet from the night stand next to my bed.

Opening it I'm greeted by the smiling faces of the Fairy Tails at episode 123. I swear, only them can disappear, be thought dead for seven years and then coming back saying 'sorry we're late!'

Anyway, when I open it I see that I need to charge it, so I grab the charger an plung it in.

And then evrything went black. That's not a good sign.

* * *

**(1) It's a greek name and it means peace. it's pronunced eye-rin**

**(2)I wish, 10th opening song of Fairy tail**

**(3) GO! by Flow, the 5th opening song of Naruto**

**Sorry this is small but is just an intro.**


	2. Oh Thor, this is crazy

**Here it is! Sorry it took so much, blame school and my disability to stop reading fanfictions for that. Any way, why are you still reading this? The important stuff down there!**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

"Oh. Why does my head hurt so much?" I groand.

My head hurt like my sister has been hitting it with her favourite hammer. Well, it wouldn 't be wierd.

I use my arms to host myself up. As I do that, I feel something smooth on my hand. What the-? Sand? Why is there sand in here? If I remember correctly, I was in my room befor everything went black.

I slowly open my eyes. At first everything is too blury to see. But as my vision clears I can make out where I am. A beach.

Why the heck am I in a beach?!

I swear, if Alex knocked me unconsious and left me at a beach again, I'm gonna kill her!

I strech my arms. Oh, man, I'm so sore. As I do, I glance at the sky and what I see makes my jaw drop.

No, it can't be. I must be dreaming. Yes, that is, I'm dreaming!

Wanting to prove that I'm dreaming, I punch myself at the gut.

"Ow." Okay, that hurt. I'm not dreaming. But then why did I see a dragon flying?

While I try to uderstand what I just saw, I don't notice a green Terrible Terror flying my way. It flies infront of me and I can see that it wears a red dog colar with a tag saying 'Pest".

And it holds a rolled paper in its claws. I reach out to it, but the Terror simply lets the paper fall on my lap.

I un-roll it and I see the words _To Irene _written on it. Okay, I'm pretty sure Irene isn't a Viking name. But why would someone send a dragon-mail?

I start reading.

_To Irene,_

_Hi there. I guess you're wonedring why you're at the Httyd world. Well, this letter explains it._

It better will. Wait, Httyd world? What the hell?!

_You see, every single thing you ever read about on books or watched in movies has it's own world. And that means that Berk along with everything you ever saw on movies, cartoons or anime and read in books is real. We at earth learn about them through the things I just mentioned._

Oh. Well, it kinda makes sence. Kinda.

_Traveling between those worlds is posssible but it takes a lot of energy. Few people (like me) are able to produce the enrgy required on their own so they rely in outside sources. When you plunged in your charger with wet hands (haven't your parents told you noit to do that?) the energy that went through your body was exacly that required to get you to the Httyd world._

_I have to say you were really lucky. If the energy was any more or less you would have ended up in the Void, the place between worlds. Let's just say you don't wanna go there. It's worst than hell._

Ahhh, like math class.

_Anyway, there was also the possibility that you could have died, lost a limb or end up looking like the thing Ed and Al brought back at their first attemp at human transmutation**[1]**._

Wait, like that thing? Okay, good thing that I didn't.

_When I was informed about this, which means the moment your butt touched Berk's soil, I was about to send you back so that you wouldn't have understood what happened._

Good. Wait... then why am I here?

_ But then I thought that you're a Httyd fan, why not let you experience your favourite movie up close?_

Okay, it's not that I don't like that idea, but she, he, whatever could have asked me first. On the possitive note, I get to meet Toothless! YAY!

Okay, okay, stop fangirling, stop fangirling.

_So this is how it is, you're at Berk before the movie started and you'll remain there untill it's over. Don't try to get back to your world, I don't think you'd be as lucky a second time._

_So yeah, that's about it. Have a good time and try not to die._

Wow, how encouraging.

_Your fellow fanfiction writer,_

_CandyKaty._

Oh, so it's a girl. What kind of name is CandyKaty?

_P.S. This letter will be pest-destucted in 3, 2, 1..._

And a little fireball left Pest's mouth, burning the letter. I back away from the little fire, afraid of getting burnet. Useless reptile...

Oh Thor, this is crazy. I admit, I've seen this movie more time than it's probaply healthy but this is ridiculous! Being stuck in Berk untill the movie is over! I never saw this one coming!

Oh, well. Time to make my debut.

I get up and head to the village whose only problem are the pests. Dragons.

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

It was afternoon and I was talking a walk. The last dragon raid was about a week ago, so most of the repairs have finishe and there's not as much work in the forge as a few days ago. Gobber told me I can have a break so here I am.

Walking at the beach. Alone. Nothing unusual here.

I keep on walking, kicking the sand under my feet as I do so. It must seem lame for me to be walking all alone, huh? Well, I don't have that many choises in the friends deparment. Actually, my only friend is Gobber and he's more of a fatherly figure. My father's not so good at that stuff.

And I bet that the villagers would through a party if I died. Yes, they through parties for every dead kid, don't ask me why, but they'd through an even bigger one if I died. _Yay, Hiccup's dead! Let's through a party to celebrate! The screw up's gone! _

I'm pulled out off my thoughts when I hear a moan. My eyes scan the beach and I see a figure walking this way. Whoever this is, he can't stand at his own two feet, he keeps on stumbling everywhere.

I run towards him and catch him before he falls on his face. And for someone like my, that's hard.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask.

The person looks up and tries to focus her vision. Yes, it's a girl.

"Whe... where am I?"

"You're at Berk."

"Berk?" she says, like she's testing the name. "That's far from home."

"Are you felling alright?"

"Yea, a little dizzy."

"Come on, we should get you to the healer" I say, helping her walk back to the village.

"Thanl you..."

"Hiccup."

She smiles.

"Thank you Hiccup."

* * *

**[1] From Full Metal Alchemist. I'm reffering to thing Ed and Al brough back when they tried to bring back their dead mother. Imagine putting a human in a mixer and turning it on. What comes out of the mixer it the thing they brought back. **


	3. An intresting tour

**New chapter! Pleace eenjoy!**

**Warning: Snotlout bashing. You're welcome.**

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

We don't get manny visitors in Berk.

Well, you'd expect that. Why would someone visit a place that gets raided by dragons daily and have the worst weather around?

But when we do have visitors it's a big deal. Even thought curiosity isn't what would come to your mind when describing a Viking, when someone new is at the village everyone's curious. That's what happened this time as well.

Even if it had only been a few hours since I took the girl to the healers hut, every one were talking about her at dinner in the Great Hall. All you could hear were things like _"Who is she? Where is she from? How old is she? Has she ever killed a dragon? Is she a good fighter?"_

And all that from the less curious people on earth.

Right now I'm heading to the healers hut to visit the girl. Hey, at least _I_ have an excuse, I'm the one who found her. Plus, I wanna know why she didn't laught at my name. Not that I mind, it's just that most people laught when I tell them my name's hiccup. She didn't laught and I wanna know why.

When I get there I see Gothi sitting outside. She nobbed her head to me as a greeting. Gothi is a woman of a few words. Okay, no words. She usually communicates through her wierd writting on the ground, but only Gobber can understand that.

"Hello Gothi. How is the girl?" I ask. Gothi is among the few people in the vilage that don't give me a hard time, so I'm more comfortable around her.

She smiles and gives me a thumps up.

"That's good. Um, can I go inside?"

She nobbs yes and I go in. I see the girl standing and streching. Gothi must have given her new clothes, instead of her old torn clothes she wears a orange tunic with dark bley tights and brown furr boots. I suddenly feel uncomfortable. I don't know what to say, I was never good at talking to... okay, anyone.

"Oh, hi" I hear her say. I look up, since I was looking at the ground, trying to figure out what to say.

"You're Hiccup right?"

"Um..yeah."

"I'm Irene. Nice to meet. Thank you for bringing me here yesterday."

"It's n-nothing. Um, do you have any injuries?"

"Nah, just scratches and bruises, nothing serious. I was about to go talk to the chief of the village. Only problem, I don't know where to find him."

"T-that's good, cause he actually want to talk to you too."

"Oh, so can you show me where to find him?"

"Y-yeah."

We leave the hut, Irene following as I guide her to the Great Hall. As we walk I see people eyeing us wierdly. Probaply thinking _where is she going?_ or _why is she closer than five feet from the screw up?_

I hear Irene huff and say something like_ 'for the love of'_ before she turns to the villagers direction and scream at them.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a girl walking?!"

After that every one is back to minding their own bisness, stealing a glance here ans there and Irene. Well, at least they're not staring.

When we get to the doorway I stop and turn around to face Irene.

"W-we're here. H-he's in there, he has a meeting today if I remember correctly. Y-you can't miss him, he's the larger one in there, the one with the crazy beard."

"Thabks Hiccup" she smiles at me before opening the (really heavy) door and go in there.

Remember when I told you that curiousity isn't what comes to your mind when you think about Vikings? Well that's true. Unless you're thinking about me.

Before the door closes behind Irene I stop it with my foot (Ow!) and eavesdrop on their conversation.

_Irene's POV_

I don't hear the door closing behind me. Well, seems like Hiccup's curiousity got the best of him. I can't help but smirk at the thought but I quickly hide it and put my respectful face on when I see Stoic.

"Excuse me sir" I say to get their attention. It works. Both Stoic, Gobber and Spitlout raise their heads to look at me.

"Who are you?" asks Stoic. Hm, suspicious right from the bat huh? I gotta work on that.

"I'm Irene, the girl found yesterday at the beach. I wanted to talk to you sir."

"Hm, and what do you want to talk about?"

"I undrrstand as the chief of this island you're cautios about me, but I swear I am not a spy or anything of that nature. I'm from a family of traders, my homeland is really south, I dout you've ever heard of it. We decided to come north on this jorney. We split up and arranged to meet in about two months from now on a deserted island. Unfortunatly, I was caught up on a storm and lost all of my merchandice. Appearantly, I was washed up on your island. I want to ask permision to stay here untill it's time for me to leave. I'm willing to help out in the village if you need help anywhere."

When I finish my little speech I can see that they bought my story. Good, everything's going as planed.

"Very well" says Stoic. "I allow you to stay on the island untill your departure. You will stay at my house since we have enough room for you. And as for work, I belive Gobber would apresiate an extra pair of hands."

Gobber nobbs next to Stoic, muttering something about how the forge needs some cleaning. Yay, I'm stuck with the chores!

"Thank you sir."

Stoic nobbs and turns to Spitlout, continueing their conversation and I head out.

Hiccup jumps back, standing ackwardly trying to look inocent.

"Did you like the show?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I- ah, I d-don't know what you're talking about" he stutters. Maybe I sound a little cruel, but it's kinda funny seeing him stutter like this.

"I'm not an idiot Hiccup. A door this heavy would make _some _noice when closing. It didn't and you seem like the kind of person who would be crious enough to eavesdrop on someone's conversation."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. I guess I got it right.

"You're good" he says.

"I know. So, um, can you do me a favor?"

That gets him be by surprise, wich shows immediatly on his face.

"Ah, sure, what is it?"

I smile.

"Can you give me a tour of the village?"

* * *

A couple of hours later Hiccup had shown me around the village. I already knew a lot but a complet stranger walking around like she was born here would be suspicious.

I've been at Berk for almost a full day and the weirdest thing is that I can understand what their saying to me. I mean. their Vikings, they Norse right? Then how do I understand them? And how do they understand me, I've speaking english since I got here in hope they'd understand.

After a little expirementing, I came at the conclusion that no matter what languege I spoke in, what I was saying got across. And I even tried the (really) few jappanese I know. And I don't think Vikings know japanese. The same thing worked in reverse since I understood perfectly what Hiccup was saying.

We were heading to the arena, the only place Hiccup hadn't shown me yet. We were close to the brige conecting Berk with the arena when it hits me that I haven't seen the teens yet. Where are they?

"Hey, Hiccup? Are they any other teens on the island other than you?"

"Yeah, there-" he starts but doesn't finish what he was saying. I look where he's looking to see the teens standing in the midle of the brige. Snotlout and Tuffnut are fighting and Ruffnut's cheering them on. Astrid and Fishlegs just stand there, Astrid looking bored.

Hiccup sighs heavily.

"They're there."

"Well, what are you standing around for? Come on, let's go meet them!" I exclaim, grabing Hiccup's wrist and draging him along.

Oh, this will be good.

I stand infront of the teens, waiting for Hiccup to do the introductions. Snotlout and Tuffunt have stopped fighting and look at us.

"Um, h-hi guys" says Hiccup feebly.

"Oh, hi Useless. What are you doing here?" asks Snotlout. My hands fold into fists, that guy's already getting on my nerves.

"T'this is Irene, the girl who ship-racked here. She wanted to meet you guys."

"Hi" I wave at them, keeping a smile on my face.

"It's expected that you wanted to meet the worlds most deadly weapon. I'm Tuffunt."

Okaaayy, I expected that.

Ruffnut pushes her brother out of the way.

"Ugh. I'm Ruffnut, sister, unfortonatly, of the deadly weapon."

"Nice to meet you. Um, is he gonna be alright?" I ask, pointing at Tuffunut, who had fallen on his face.

"Yeah, he'll be alright."

I eye Tuff sumpatheticly and walk up to Fishlegs and Astrid.

"And who are you?" I ask cheery.

"I-I'm Fishlegs."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Fishlegs. And you are?" I ask looking at Astrid.

"Astrid."

Oookay. Moving on.

"And who are you?" I ask Snotlout.

"My name is Snotlout and I'm the best Viking in Berk."

No comment on that.

"So, what is a girl like you doing with someone like Useless?"

I can feel my eye twich slightly, a tick of mine when I get irritated. I take a breath and try to sound cheery.

"Um, excuse me, but what do mean by that?" I ask sa polite as I can in the moment.

"I mean, why would any one in their right mind hang out with someone like Useless? The guy's as scrawny as a toothpick, he can't even lift a dagger and he destroies the village worst than the dragons."

_Stay calm, stay calm_ I chant again in my head, trying to not to loose my temper.

"He's wierd, a freak, every one in Berk wish they'd die before he becomes chief!"

_Breath in, breath out, breath in..._

"Heck, even if he does become chief he'd burn down the village in less than a day. I can't understand why uncle Stoic doesn't just banish him, nobody will miss him anywa-"

You know what, screw keeping my temper!

_Hiccup's POV_

Irene just stands there while Snotlout goes on and on about why some one wouldn't wanna be around me. Great, one person my age who didn't mind being around me and now she'll leave too...

I look at Irene to wacth her reaction and I feel like hidding into a hole. She just stands there, listening to what Snotlout says, probaply thinking he's right.

"...I can't understand why uncle Stoic doesn't just banish him, nobody will miss him anywa-"

And then, before any one of us can do anything, Irene has punched Snotlout in the gut. He bends down, holding his stomach in pain as she kicks the back of his knees, causing him to fall flat on his fase.

All of us look at her with wide eyes full of awe and open mouths.

Irene kneels infront of Snotlout, a cruel I-killed-your-pet-bunny smile on her face and rases his face up to look at her.

"Let me tell you some things about me Snoty" she starts. Snotlout gulps. "One, I don't like people who treat their family like this. Two, I can't stand it when people mess with my friends. So if you value your life, you better not _ever_ talk like this or you'll wish a dragon killed you; because what _I_ would do to you would be _way_ more painful."

I'm pretty sure Snotlout has peed his pants, I would if I was in his place.

"Are we clear?" she asks. Snotlout nobbs his head franticly.

"Good. Come on Hiccup, lets go" she says, stepping on Snotlout's back to reach me, grabing my wrist and draging me away, again stepping on his back.

"It was nice meeting you guys" she waves to the others, somewhat back to her cheery self. Then she eyes Snotlout and there goes her cheerful atitube.

"Remember what I told you" she warns him.

She drags me by my arm back to the village. It takes me a little to register what just happened but when I do, it surprises me.

She defended me.

She continues draging me, at first she's tense and agressive but she calms down evantually. She lets goes of my arm.

"Sorry for that. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, it's okay" I answer her. "Um, Irene?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you do that for back there?"

"Oh, you see, I have a really bad temper and Snotface was annoying me so-" she starts expaining but I interupt her.

"No, I mean, why did you stood up for me? Nobody ever does that."

It's true, not even Gobber defends me.

"Oh, that. Well, what did you expect me to do? Stand there while Snotface talks like that for you? I don't think so. Somebody had to teach that guy a lesson."

I just stand ther, looking at her dazed.

"So I stood up for you. That's what friends are for, right?" she says, smiing at me.

I look at her shock for a while before I smile at her, my first real smile in a long while.

"Right."

"Good. Hey, can you show me to the woods?" she asks.

"Sure" I reply and head to the woods with my new friend.


	4. I hit it!

**Here it is! I'm sorry this took so much but November has a LOT of tests. Plus I couldn't stop readig Naruhina fics. Anyway, this was gonna be larger but I decided to end it here.**

**This chap, not the fic...**

**READ THE DAMN THING!**

* * *

Hiccup's POV

Everytime somebody new comes at the village we have a celebration.

Since I'm younger than eighteen I wasn't allowed to drink, like the rest of the teens. But like every time, Snotlout and Tuffnut , managed to steal some mead and get themselves drunk.

When the party was over, the ones who weren't drunk had to take the ones who were home. So after countles walks in the village, getting people to their homes, I was taking Irene back to the house. How that girl got so drunk only with one cup, I don't know.

So now I'm liying on my back, looking at the cealing while Irene is snoring on her bed made by furs and blankets. I offered her to sleep in my bed but she refused, saying she didn't mind sleeping at the floor.

You know, I just realised I've been talking for so long without formaly introdusing myself.

_Well, this is Berk. It's twelve days nort of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located soilidly on the meridian of misery. A nice place to live, really._

I look out of the window to see a dark figure passing by. A winged figure. Oh no.

"Irene. Irene!" I whisper to her. She mumbles something along the lines of 'five more minutes please' but doesn't wake up. I start shaking her and she opens her eyes lazily.

"...mm, wha?"

"Dragon raid. Come on, get up."

At that her eyes shot wide open, a look of excitement on her face. I brush it off, grab my vest and drag Irene downstairs. Non of us really bothered to change last night so were already dressed.

_My village. In one word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations but every single building is knew. We're really fast in rebuilding houses, it just takes practise._

"Come on. We have to go to the forge. Run fast and avoid any-"

_We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunset. The only problems are the pests. While most places have mice or mosquitos we have-_

I open the door to a fireball coming my way and quikly close it again. Nice wake up call, huh?

"-dragons" I say breatless.

_Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vilings. We have stuborness issues._

Once we're outside we run to the forge, avoiding the Vikings who charge into battle. Me, I do this practicly every day, I'm used to it. But Irene doesn't. Which is wierd because she moves like she've done this a thousand times, every step on the right spot, she makes avoiding big buffy Vikings seem easy.

_My name is Hiccup. I know, great name. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten of noms and trolls. Like our chgarming Viking demanour wouldn't do that._

A big Viking pounces on me, knocking me to the ground. When he realises I'm not a dragon he stops screaming, gives me a cheery "Hi!" and leaves. Irene had stopped next to me and helped me up, once again running to the forge.

_The girl running next to me is Irene. She ship-wrecked here two days ago and I have to admit she's a pretty strange girl._

"What are you doing out?!"

"Get inside!"

"Get back inside!"

That's a few things yelled at me while we run to the forge. Charming neighbours, don't you think?

"Hiccup!" yells Irene before I'm picked up by the colar of my shirt (Ugh!) and see the fire that would have burned me alive.

"Hiccup! What is he doing out?! What are you doing out?! Get inside!"

And I'm tossed to the side, looking with awe at the person ifront of me.

_That's Stoic the Vast, chief of the village. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragons head clean of it's shoulders. Do I belive it?_

Infront of me, Stoic grabs a wooden pilar and hits a dragon with it.

_Yes, I do._

"Come on Hiccup, we gotta go" says Irene and forces me up. We run as fast as we can and we reach the forge.

"Ah, nice of ya ta join the party. I though ya've been carried away" greets us a big blond viking with a hammer for a hand.

"Wha-? Who, me? Nah, I'm _way _too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this" I say, making a body builder pose.

"They need toothpicks, don't they?" ask both Gobber and Irene the same time.

Okay, expected that from Gobber, but I rene too? I guess Gobber agreed with me because we both stared at her like she grew a second head.

"He he" she chukles nervously.

"Well, get ta work ya two" ssay Gobber, going back to what he was doing before.

I take the weapons the Vikings left at the bent and get to work. Irene sighs and starts tidying up the forge.

_The meathead with attitube and interchangable hands is Gobber. I've been his apreantice ever since I was little. Well, littler._

Looking out of the window I see a dragon breathing fire at a house and burning it down.

_See, old village, lots and lots of new houses._

"Fire!" Nah, you just figured that out?

I peek through the window at the fire patrol doing its job.

_Oh, and that's Fishlegs..._

Biggest bookworm in the village.

_... the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut..._

Who love destraction.

_... Snotlout and..._

My cousin, who knows hundreds of ways to ruin my day.

_... Astrid._

The girl I've been crushing on for years and will never notice me.

Astrid throws her water at the fire but a dragon fires again, creating a flaming backround for them.

_Their job is so much cooler._

"Ah, no ya don't!"

I'm suddenly lifted in the air from the back of my shirt by Gobber, who carries me away from the window.

"Oh, come on, let me out, I need to make my mark" I coplain.

"You've made pleanty of marks. All in the wrong places!"

"Do I even want to know what that means?" asks Irene.

"No" Gobber and I answer sharply.

"Please, just two munites. I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitley beter. I might even get a date!"

"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe..." starts counting Gobber. He reaches behind him and grabs a bola.

"... you can't even through one of these!"

A Viking who was passing by grabbed the bolla and through it at a Gronkle, tieing it's legs together and draging it to the ground.

"Okay, yes, but..." i say, walking to my newest invention, a canon which can through bola ten time farther than the stronger of Vikings.

"... this will through it for me" I say. The moment my hand touches the canon Irene, who were in its line of fire, ducks down just a second before a bola flies over her head, Gobber's head, the head of the vilager behind Gobber and hits the villager behind the villager behind Gobber.

"Now see Hiccup, this right here is what I'm talking about!"

"Mild calubraliton issue..." I say a little nervously.

"Hiccup" started Gobber sharply, "if you want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all... this."

"That's a great advise Gobber" pointed out Irene sarcasticly.

"You just gestured to all of me" I say confused. Was he really saying what I thing he's saying?

"Yes, that is! Stop being all of you!"

Yes, he is.

"Ohhh..."

"Ohh, yess" mocks me Gobber.

"You sir are playing a dangerous game. Kepping this much raw Viking-ness contained... There will be consiquences!"

"... consiquences!"

I turn around to see Irene pointing at the sky, the same position I was in moments ago. She gives me a apologetic smile and breaks her pose.

"I'll take my chances. Sword, sharpened, now." Gobber goes back to work, dropping a sword I can barely lift in my arms.

"Bossy" mutters Irene and I can't help but nob.

I carry the sword to the whell and start sharpening it.

_One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here._

_A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed._

_Gronkles are tough. Getting one of those down would defenetly get me a girlfriend._

_The Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twise the status._

_And then there's the Monstrus Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. The have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

_But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has seen. We call it the-_

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

Shortly after that a beam of blue-purple-ish fire hits one of the catapults, knocking it on the ground.

_This thing never steals food, never shows itself and-_

BAM!

An other tower explodes by the Night Fury's fire.

_-never misses. _

_No one has ever killed a Nigh Fury. That's why I'm gonna be the first._

I turn around, wanting to get my invention and go after the dragon but Gobber stops me.

"Hold the forge Hiccup. They need me out there" he turns around to leave but stops. "Stay. Put. There. Ya know what I mean. Ahhhhhh!"

Gobber run off with a battle cry. A grin slips on my face and I turn around only to be stopped by Irene.

"Were do you think you're going?"

"I...ah... I'm going on a walk!"

She raises an eye brow, giving me a look that just screams 'Are you kidding me?'

"During a dragon raid? Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that? You're going after the Night Fury, aren't you?"

How did she..?

"How did you figured it out?"

"I'm not blind. I can recognise a person striving for acceptence when I see one. With the way every one's treating you it makes sence that you want to prove them your worth. And killing the most feared dragon of all would do the trick."

Wow. Am I really that obvious?

"I guess you won't let me leave?" I sighed.

"Who said that?"

Wait, what?

"You can leave if you want. But I'm coming along."

There's a grin on Irene's face that would make a Chesire cat proud. And I'm pretty sure mine would too.

* * *

"Hiccup, what are you doing out?!"

"Get back here!"

"Yeah, I know, be right back!" I scream as Irene and I run as fast as our feet can carry us, wich is pretty fast, through the village.

After a couple of minutes we arrive at a cliff. They're planning on putting a catapult tower here but now there's nothing or no one here.

I open the catapult and scan the sky for any signs of the Night Fury.

"Come on, give me something to shoot at, give me simething to shoot at..."

A tower explodes and theres a dark shadow against the flames.

"There!" yells Irene.

My gaze follows the dragon and pull the trigger. A loud screech follows and it takes me a little to realized what just happened.

"I hit it! Yes! Did any one saw that?" I turn around and Irene is raising her hand.

"Exept for you."

She points at something behind me. I turn around and come face to face with a Monstrus Nightmare who just destroyed my invention.

Oh, come on! Do you know how long it took me to make that?!

"Or you."

"Should we run?" asks Irene.

"Yeah. Ladies first."

"Why, thank you."

And we ran.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


	5. Believe it!

**Aaaand; here it is! Again, this was originaly going to be up to the whole "i don't wanna fight dragons" scene, but I decieded to finish it here. The chapter. **

**Have fun!**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

There's something wierdly amusing in running for your life.

When Hiccup woke me up this morning and told there was a dragon raid, I could have bet the movie was starting.

And I was right.

At the start I was dazed. Hey, you'd be too. I'm part of my favourite movie!

I was doing well, though I duck a little too fast when Hiccup's bola canon fired. I hope he didn't notice.

So how did I end up running for my life? Simple, I went with Hiccup to shoot down Toothless. So now I'm running form a Monstrus Nightmare, draging Hiccup along.

"Out of the way, people! Monstrus Nightmare Coming through! Out of the way!" I scream as we run through the village in hopes the Nighmare will loose us, though I know that won't happen.

I dive behind the corner of house as the Nightmare fires again. Hiccup avoids it by an inch and hides behind the last standing post. The Nightmare fires at him, the only thing protecting is the post.

Hiccup takes a peek and sees nothing. He's still looking the other way when the Nightmare sneaks from the other side, ready to fire at him.

But he never gets the chance. Stoic attacks, hitting the dragon in the face with his hammer. The Nightmare scracthes the ground like a bull and fires at Stoick. Or at least tries. It doesn't any more fire.

"You're all out" smirks Stoick. He hits the poor dragon repetadly and I wince every single time the hammer makes contact with the Nightmares scales.

Unable to take any more, the dragon flies away. Stoick turns to Hiccup. What was Hiccups line? Oh, yes.

_And there's one more thing you need to know..._

The post falls, destroying several things in its way down. The men that were holding the Nabbers trapped run out of the way and the dragons escape.

"Sorry, Dad."

In the sky, dragons are flying away with fish and sheep in their claws. The villagers are murmuring, glaring daggers at Hiccup.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick grabs his son by the collar and drags him away. I run after them.

"It's not like the last few time dad! I really actually hit it! Irene was there too! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shoot! It went down just off Raven Point! Lets get a search party out there and-"

"STOP!" yells Stoick, silencing every one. "Just, stop. Every time you step outside disaster falls! Can you not see I have bigger problems?"

_"You a son have a son, jackass"_ I mutter but no one hears me. I swear, moments like this make me wanna kill him. Or just cause some severe injuries. Whatever comes first bvefore some one stops me.

"Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Between you and me dad, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" jokes Hiccup. All around, Vikings pout and look down on their bellies.

"Yeah, that's true" I step infront of Hiccup, as if wanting to shield him from his father. "If you ate less you'd be quiker and lighter and maybe there wouldn't be so many dragons escaping."

Even though I didn't mean to, I've been glaring at Stoick with a teasing smirk on my face. I could feel the vikings around me glaring at me for impling it's their fault that the dragons escaped. Well, it is.

"This isn't a joke you two! Why can't you follow the simplest orders Hiccup?"

"I-I can't stop myself! I see a dragon and I just have to kill it. It's who I am dad."

Stoick and I sigh simoulatly.

"You're many things Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them."

"He's right for once, Hiccup. You're not a killer" I add. "It's one thing you defenetly aren't."

"Take him home. Make sure he stays there" says Stoick to Gobber, who slaps Hiccup up side the head. "I have his mess to clean up."

A little growl escapes my mouth and my nails dig into my skin when I fist my hands. I run to catch up to Gobber and Hiccup, but 'accidently' kick Stoick on the leg.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" I apologise, the sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

"Quite the performance" snikers Tuffnut and I step on his foot.

"I've never seen any one mess up that badly. That helped!" adds Snotlout and starts laughing with his 'smart' insult.

I put my hand on Hiccup's shoulder and smile at him. Then, I kick Snotface's feet from under him and he falls to the ground.

"If you haven't the you should probaply look at a mirror. Nature really messed up with you."

We leave, hearing the twins laugh at Snotlout.

"I really did hit one" says Hiccup.

"Sure Hiccup" answers Gobber and even a stupid person could tell he didn't mean it.

"He never listens" he complains.

"Well, it runs in the family" coments Gobber.

"And whe he does, it's always with this disapointed scowl, like some one skipped on the meat in his sanduich. Excuse me barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong off spring. I ordered an extra large boy with beffy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone."

"No, you're taking this all wrong. It's not what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

Ah, geez, Stoic needs to make a law that forbids Gobber from giving advice or cheering people up!

"Gobber, that was terrible" I say matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, thanks for summing that up."

"Look, just stop trying to be something you're not" explains Gobber, giving a good advise for once.

"I just wana be one of you guys" sighs Hiccup and enters the house. Gobber sighs heavily.

"Don't worry" I tell him. "I'll talk to him."

He gives a little nob and leaves.

Insinde, Hiccup is sitting on a chair, with his fase in his hands.

"You know, I really don't get why" I say.

He raises his head and looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you want to be like the rest of them? When would be the fun in that?"

"You're saying that because you don't know what it's like" he say, going back to looking at the floor.

"Now, that's where you're wrong "I walk up to him and kneel next to him. "Why do you think I hate the way Snotlout treats you? It's because I know how it hurts. And I don't want to see someone else go through it. Not on my watch."

He stares at me, pobably trying to figure me out.

"I know what it's like. What it's like to be an outcast, to feel alone, to be looked down on by every one like you're not worth it."

My poker face falls and I give Hiccup a big smile.

"But if I could get through it then so can you. It's just like in books. The heroe will always go through something harsh, but he'll always make it out alive and learn something."

"What did you learn?"

Heh, classic Hiccup. Curious to the end.

"I learnt the trying to change yourself just so people will like you is bullshit. Not every one will accept you. But some will. Some people will love you just for who you are. You just need to find them."

"I don't think there's some one like that for me" sighs Hiccup.

I put my hand on his shoulder and give him my best encoraging smile.

"Don't say that. You will. Believe it!**[1]**"

Adter a moment of looking at me and wondering if I actually meant what I said, he gives me smile.

"Thanks" he says.

"Ah, it's nothing. So, are we going or what?"

Hiccup's head tilted to the side in confusion. He lost me again.

"You were going to go after that dragon, weren't you? Are you coming or what?"

The confusion washes off his face to be replaced by a wide grin.

"Coming."

I grabbed my bag and we left.

* * *

**[1] Naruto quote (obviously...)**

**Oh, and just so you know, the more reviews, the more I write. It actually reminds me that someone is reading it and I want to upload faster.**


	6. The mighty beast is still alive

**And I did it! New chapter up! YaaHoo!**

**I hope you enjoy it. I love you guys! So many favs, follows and reviews; I'm gonna cry! *sniff* COOKIES FOR EVERYONE! Not you Pest!**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

UGH! WERE IS THAT FUCKING DRAGON?!

I mean, I know it took Hiccup some time to find him, but this is ridiculous! We've been out here for hours!

We're at the next spot we need to check. We both close our eyes, wishing we'll finaly find the danm thing. We slowly open them and...

IT'S NOT THERE!

"Oh, come on!" I yell, pulling my hair like I'm about to pull ity out. Hiccup crosses the spot we're at and draw lines all over the book in frustration.

Wait a minute... YES! AT LAST!

"Ugh, the Gods hate me! Some people loose their mug or their knife, but nooo, not me. _I_ loose an entire dragon!"

We've walked up to the splited tree and Hiccup hits the branch.

"Hiccup! Duck!" I yell. He turns around and stares at me, so the branch hits him at the back oh his head. Oh well, close enough.

"Ow..."

He turns around, his eyes widing when he sees the tree. His eyes folow the fallen half of it and he peeks over a little hill. He gasps and ducks down.

He takes a shaky breath and peeks again. I do too an I see the almighty Night Fury trapped with some rope, completly helpless. I'm sorry Toothless, but we both know it's true.

He pulls out his dagger and walks towards Toothless as stealthy as he can. I, on the other hand, look like I'm out in the park for a walk.

Hiccup has his back pessed against a boulder, like he's some kind of a sectret agent, an I'm pretending to be a ninja.**[1]**

"Oh, wow. I-I did it. Oh, I did it. This fixes everything. Yes!" Hiccup continues his psychotic little rant, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I've brought down this mighty beast!" he declares, and does a heroic pose, whith his leg on Toothless' leg.

"Um Hiccup-" I start but I'm interupted by Toothless shakiung Hiccup off him.

"Whoa!"

"-the mighty beast is still alive."

Hiccup takes out his dagger, almost droping it, and gets ready to kill the dragon.

"I-I'm gonna kill you dragon. I'm gonna... I'm gonna cut off your head and take it to my father. I'm a Viking... I'M A VIKING!"

I wish I had some pop-corn with me. This is getting ecxiting.

Hiccup raises the dagger above his head and closes his eyes. He hesitanly opens his eye and looks at Toothless. He quickly closes it again.

After a long moment he sighs and looks at the dagger in his hand.

"I did this" he mtters.

On the ground, Toothles groans.

"Um, Hiccup, I don't speak dragon but I'm pretty sorry that means 'Can you stop braging and just get over with this?'"

He looks at me for a second and then at Toothless. He takes a deep breath and starts cutting the ropes.

_Oh, finaly! _I pull the dagger I took from the forge out of my messanger bag and start helping Hiccup.

He looks up at me surprised, stopping waht he was doing.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" I say as I continue cutting. "I'm helping you. We don't want some one to catch us, right? With two people working on this we'll finish faster."

I can feel his gaze on me for a few seconds, but then he goes back to cutting the ropes.

The moment thwe last rope is cut, Toothless pounces on Hiccup. I'm lying on my back on the ground a few fet away, since I jumped back when Hiccup cut the last rope.

Hiccup backs against the boulder, trying to get away. Something that can't happen when an angry dragon has you pinned down.

Toothless stands on two legs and roars _really_ loud right in Hiccups face. After that he flew away, rather clumsyly might I add.

I get back on my feet, but before I can reack Hiccup he has already stood up and fainted.

Great, how am I going to wake him up now?

Wait a minute...

Someone get me a light bulb, cause I got an idea!

_Hiccup's POV_

"WAKE UP!"

"Ahh!" I scream as I sit up. I'm sitting on the ground floor and Irene is sitting beside me.

"Why would you do that?" I ask her. A dragon almost made me deaf, I don't need her yelling in my ears too.

"To wake you up. Or would you've prefered it if I slapped you?"

"Um, on second thought, I'm fine."

"That's what I thought" chukles Irene. "So; wanna go on a walk?" she smiles.

I nob.

For the next few hours we were walking thought the forest, talking about all kind of stuff.

Without realizing it we walked back to the village.

"I guess we should go back, huh?" asks Irene.

"Yeah" I say, even though I don't want, but I'll have to go back eventually.

As we walk back home, I wish that dad won't be there.

Irene opens the door slowly...

... and dad's here. Great.

We walk as silently as we can to the stairs and start clinbing on all four.

"Hiccup."

Damn.

"Busted" sings Irene.

"Ah... I need to talk to you, dad."

"I need to speak to you too son."

"I decieded I don't wanna fight dragons!"

"I decieded it's time you learn how to fight dragons!"

"What?"

"What?"

"Ah, you go first" says dad.

"No, no you go frist."

"You should have gone first" mutters I rene next to me.

"Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oh, boy, I should have gone first" I mutter.

"Told ya."

"Cause, I was thinking dad, we have a supply of dragon fighting Vikings. But, do we have enough... bread making-Vikings! Or small home repair Vikings-"

"Or blacksmiths" adds Irene.

"You'll need this"says dad and hands me an axe that almost drags down.

"I don't wanna fight dragons."

"Oh, come on. Yes you do!"

"Rephrase; dad, I _can't_ kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragons."

"No, i'm pretty, very extra sure that I won't."

"It's time Hiccup" he announces serious.

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious son!"

"I'd take that as a no" point out Irene.

"When you cary this axe, you carry all of us with you" says dad.

"Oh, my back" jokes Irene from next to me.

"Which means you walk like us; you talk like us; you think like us" he say as he points at his head for emphasy.

"No more of... this" he continues at gestures to all of me.

"You just gestured to all of him/me" say I rene and I at the same time.

"Deal?" asks dad.

"This conversation's feeling really one-sided" I mutter.

"That's because it is" explains Irene.

"Deal?" asks dad again.

"Deal" I sigh.

"Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably. You two be good" he says and points to I rene and I while he says that last one.

"And I'll be here. Maybe."

But he doesn't here me. He's already left.

"Tell me he wasn't inplying what I think he was implying with that last one" says Irene.

"UGH!" I groan, letting the axe fall from my hands, almost cutting my toe off.

"Great!" I yell and plop down on the floor. "When I decied I don't want to fight dragons he wants me to! I'm sure now; the gods hate me!"

"Now, don't be like that" starts Irene, trying to comfort me. "They don't hate you; they just enjoy seeing you suffer."

"That's the same" I say.

"Oh, well" she shrugs. "Don't worry, it'll be okay."

"No, it won't; I'll be killed before he lets the first dragon out of its gage!"

"No, you won't. I'll make sure of it. Now come on, we should go to sleep. We have dragon trainging in the morning."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it****.**

**[1] Go on google and search for ' Fairy tail natsy ninja' on images, you'll see what I mean.**

** Oh, I'm thinking of having Irene sing some thing at the scene on the catapult, I'm not sure though. If you want her to sing vote. If she does I'm depading between "Masayume Chasing" from fairy tail and "grip" form Inuyasha. But I'd like to hear some other suggestions.**


	7. Ember in the forest

**Oh, boy, this is really long. Longest chapter I've written for this thing. **

**Well, hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

I open my eyes lazily to the empty room. Irene's makeshift bed is folded at a corner and it's owner is nowhere to be found.

I sit up with a grunt. I really don't want to go to dragon training but if i don't Gobber will just drag me there. Thank you, but I'd like to keep my dignity.

I get down to find a bowl upside-down on the table with a note next to it.

_Hiccup,_

_You were still asleep so I let you sleep. I went to the Greate Hall for breakfast and brought you some. I hope it's still warm._

_Irene._

_P.S. If you don't come at dragon training I'll drag you to the arena by the ear. I'm not kidding._

Even if she just threatened me, I can't help but smile. Ever since Irene came I actually had a friend who wouldn't tell me I have to change. It's a nice change.

After I ate my break fast I took the axe dad gave me and dragged it to the arena. Literaly.

Once at the arena, I saw everyone was already inside.

"I hope I get some serious burns" I hear Tuffnut say. Irene, who was walking with the others, turns her head around and smiles at me.

Is it just me, or does she always seem to know when I'm around?

"I'm hoping for some mulling. Like, on my shoulder or lower back" adds Ruffnut. Oh, come on! Why would some one want that?!

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it" says Astrid.

"Yeah, no kidding" I pop in. "Pain; love it."

Irene ckukles, thought the others don't react like her.

"Oh, great, who let _him_ in?" asks Tuffnut.

Irene groans at him but doesn't get to say anything because Gobber butts in.

"Let's get started! The recruit who does best in training will get the honor to kill his first dragon infront of the entaire village!"

"What kind of honor is that?" whispers Irene at me without anyone hearing.

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or...?"

"Oh, afraid you'll lose Snotface?" teases him Irene.

"Like I'd_ ever_ lose to _him_."

"Whatever you want" she says, raising her arms up in surrender. Snotlout smirks, thinking he won but then I rene continues. "But you've got my word on this; this little fishbone here is going to be a hero."

Right now I want her to just stop. It's uncomfortable being on the spotligh, but I can't help but wonder why she has so mcuh confidence in me.

"When that happens Vikings will fly and I'll eat my helmet" says Snotlout and I don't miss Irene's big smile, like he just said a joke only she could understand.

"Hey, you're not here to fight each other, you're here to learn how to fight dragons" says Gobber and walks to the cages.

We all stand lined up, waiting for Gobber to start the lesson.

"Behind those doors are just a few of the species you will learn how to fight."

"The Deadly Nadder" gestures Gobber at one of the doors. Terrible roars echo from inside.

"Speed 8, armor 16" says Fishlegs excited.

"The Hiddeous Zippleback."

"Plus 11 stealth. Tmes 2."

"The Monstorus Nightmare."

"Firepower 15."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Venom 12."

"CAN YA STOP THAT?!" yells Gobber and then continues. "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw-strenth 8" whispers Fishlegs.

"How does that help us?" whispers Irene back.

"Whoa, wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?" asks Snotlout. Gobber's hand is on the lever to the Gronkle's cage.

"He believes in learning on the job" points out Irene.

"What the lass said!"

And with that the Gronkle is free.

Irene, who was standing on her toes, jumps out of the way. The rest of us follow her example and get out of the way. Well, except for the twins, who rush right at it.

"Today is about survival. If ya get blasted, ya dead. Quick, what's the first thing you'r going to need?" shoots Gobber.

"A doctor?!" I suggest.

"That's for later!" yells Irene, never stopping running.

"Plus 5 speed?" asks Fishlegs.

"What the heck does that mean?!" yells Irene again.

"A shield" says Astrid confidently.

"Shields! GO!" yells Gobber and we all grab a shield.

"The most important part of you equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a shord and shield, take the shield."

I have trouble lifting mine, but Irene helps me, putting the shield in my right hand the axe in my left. It feels strangly better now.

As I run, I see the twins fighting for a shield and then getting blasted.

"Those shields are good for another thing! Noise! Make lots of it! Throws off a dragons aim!"

We all start hitting our shields with our weapons and the dragon infront of us flies dizily.

"Every dragon has a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?" asks Gobber.

"Five?" guesses Snotlout.

"No, six!" corrects him Fishlegs.

"Correct!That means only one will survive!"

"I really don't think my parents would-" starts Fishlegs but gets cut off from the Gronkles fire.

"Fishlegs, out."

In the meantime, I'm hidding behind a weapons rack, trying to not be killed. While I'm there I notice how Irene moves. No, not in a creepy way, it's just that it seems like she knows where the dragon will go, moving like this is some kind of choreography.

"Hiccup, get in there!" yells Gobber. I do as I was told, the Gronkle almost roasting me alive but thank Thor it missed.

Irene is bouncing on her heels, ready for an attack and so is Astrid. Snotlout is flirting with Astrid, and caught up on his failed atempt to charm her, he doesn't see the blast knocking his shield off his hands.

"Snotlout! You're done!" yells Gobber.

Astrid rolls out of the way and stands next to me.

"So, I guess it's just you and me huh?" I ask, trying to play cool and failing miserably.

"Nope, just you!" says Astrid and runs out of the way. I look at her confuced and-

BAM!

The Gronkle fired at me while I wasn't looking, making my shield fly off my hands.

"One shot left!" yells Gobber.

I run after it, really not wanting to be unprotected with a dragon in the room.

I peek over my shoulder and the Gronkle is chasing after me. My eyes go wide and I run faster.

But of course, I had to mess up running for my life, didn't I? I trip and find myself on the floor. I quikly back away but hit the wall.

And for second time in two days, I'm pressed against a wall with an angry dragon towering over me. I can hear my heart beating in my ears, I can feel the warmth emitting from the dragons mouth. I close my eyes, too scared to see the blast that will take my life hitting me.

BAM!

I open my eyes hesitantly. I don't get it; nothing hurts and I'm still at the arena.

A little ways away, the Gronkle tries to steady itself. What just happened.

And the I finally notice her. Irene is standing infront of me, her shield completly destroyed at her feet. She's holding her left shoulder hit her hand and even though she has maniac smile on her face I can see the pain in her eyes.

But I can also see the determenation.

"What's up you over-grown sausage? I thought you were tougher that that, I guess I was wrong" she teases the dragon. In responed, the Gronkle lets out a furious roar and chases after her.

Irene starts running, the Gronkle hot on her tail. We all watch speechless as she runs,making sharp turns that cause the Gronkle to hit the wall hard.

After about five minutes of running, she stands infront of the Gronkle's cage. Said dragon is at the other side of the arena, dizy after another run in with the wall.

"Aw, the big bad dragon is hurt? Ha, come and get me, fatshow!" she exclaims, moving her... rear at the dragons face.

I guess the Gronkle didn't like that. It charges at irene but she just stands there, not moving an inch.

Then, at the last second she falls to the floor right before the Gronkle hits angry dragon flies over her and hits the wall.

Irene jumps up and closes the door to the cage as fast as she can.

Wipping the sweat form her brows, she sights heavily. She sprints to me and helps me up.

"Are you alright?" she asks. Too stunned to speack, I nob.

"And, umm, that's six" says Gobber, as shocked as the rest of us.

"Good job Irene." Gobber pats her on the back and her tough facade slips off, cringing in pain and grapping her shoulder.

"But remember; a dragon will always" he looks sternly at me, "_always _go for the kill."

Then, why didn't the Night Fury?

* * *

_Irene's POV_

_Man, that was tiring._ I think as I move my wounded shoulder.

I don't know why I did it. I knew Gobber would save Hiccup, yet before I knew it i was rushing at Meatlug.

I'm really sorry for teasing her like that, guess dragon or human, no woman likes to be called fat. I'm going to apologise to her as soon as I can.

After the whole incident at the arena, Gobber incisted that I go to Gothi to check my shoulder. Hiccup was there the whole time, I could tell he was guilty that I got hurt saving his butt. I kept telling him that I was fine, and as Gothi, I only had a bruise.

Hey, I wasn't damn enough to hit Meatlug with my bare shoulder. I put my shield infront of my shoulder so I didn't break anything. Other than the shield.

When we finished with my little check up, I told Hiccup I was going to take a nap. Which wasn't true. It was as obvious as the sun that he wanted to go find Toothless so I left.

I was debating with myself if I should go with him to meet Toothless, but at the end I devieded not to. I know it must sound kind of wierd but I feel like the scenes when Hiccup and Toothless bond are sacred. It's just between the two of them and I want to keep it that way.

So now I'm walking through the forest aimlessly, my messanger bag bouncing on my lap as I walk.

I'm lost in my thoughts when I hear a silent whimper. I automaticly freeze and hear carefully. Letting my curiousity win, I follow the silent noise.

After a few minutes of walking I end up at a clearing. But it's not naural. The trees and bushes have obviously been demmaged.

And in the middle of the little clearing lies its creator.

Lying on the ground is a dragon. Since it's down I can't see how tall it is or how big its wings are. It's as long as a horse, with a round head and pointed snout. Its ears reminds me of Toothless' and it has four dark brown fins at both sides of its face. There's a serie of fins at the same color starting about an inch over its eyes and reaching the tip of its tail. The tail is pretty long a the tail fins are pointed, at the same brown tone.

This dragon here would have a really hard time hidding. It's whole body is bright orange with dark brown markings along its head, spine and at its knees.

But the most memorable thing about it would be it's eyes. Big, cat-like and yellow like the sun.

The whines I heard before are gone and the dragon looks at me scared.

"Shh, it's okay" I say as calmy as I can, moving closer. In respond, the dragon inches away, growling silently. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The dragon stops it's silent growling, and looks at me curiously.

"I promise" I say, my left hand over my heart and the right on the air.

The dragon seems to relax after this and I walk closer. I'm in arms legnth from it when it starts growling again. My eyes widen, realizing what it wants and on a quick move I grab my dagger from my bag and throw it as far as I can.

"Happy?" I ask and it replies with a small nob.

"That's good" I smile. "Say, are you hungry?"

At that, the dragon moves its head up and down fast and looks at me almost pleading.

I gigle a little and reach in my bag, taking out a chiken leg I took with me to eat. I extened my arm, waiting for the dragon to take it.

I don't need to say anything, it has already extended its head and takes the chiken leg from my hand and gulps it loud.

"You.. ate all of it" I say in astonisment. "Even the bone."

The dragon looks at me apologeticly and spits the bone on my lap, a small patch of meat still on it. It gestures at it whith its head.

Ugh, come on. Do I have to? Well, at least its not raw fish.

I raise the bone to my mouth and eat the meat. I swallow it and my eyes go wide. This is good. Warm, but spicy.

I just enjoyed eating chiken coming out of the belly of a dragon. It's official. I've reached a new level of weirdness.

"That... was surprizengly tasty" I admit.

Infront of me, the dragon purrs but stops sharply, cringing in pain.

"Are you hurt boy?" I ask conserned.

It nobs, but growls at me.

"Um, girl?"

It- sorry, she nobs.

"Come on, show me where you hurt. Maybe I can help you" I tell her, moving closer, but she backs away.

"Do you trust me?" I ask, holding my hand infront of her face.

I can fell her eyes on me as I turn my head around and wait for her to do something.

And thankfully, she doesn't cut my arm off but rest her snout in my palm.

I look back at her, mesmerized by the sencetion. Its warm, like I'm sitting infront of the fire place but not uncomfortable at all.

We stay like that for a little while untill sh pulls back and opens up her right wing for me. The simple movement makes her hurt.

On her wing is the same dark brown patern that reminds me of lava. But that's not what has caught my attention. From the hem of her wing almost all the way up is a nasty cut.

"Ouch, that must hurt a lot" I mutter and she replies to me with a sarcadtic croon, like she's saying "No kidding, really Sherlock?"

"Okay, I want you to stay here and be as silent as you can. I'll be back as fast as I can."

With that, I run back to the village in top speed. When I reach it I head to the forge and grab a needle, threat and the bottle with mead I found under Gobbers workbench.

After that, I go to the healer's hut. Thankfully, Gothi isn't here, so I grab some bamdages and the cream she usedf on my cuts and run back to the woods.

When I reach the clearing again, I see her waiting there for me, wing stil opened.

"Alright, now stay still, this might burn a bit" I tell her and pour some of the mead on the cut to disinfect it.

I open the vaze with the cream and put som on the cut. After I dip both the threat and needle on the mead, I start sewing her up. She cringes every time I do but I keep calming her down.

"Well, that must be enough. Now, come on we need to find somewhere for you to hide. If you stay here the Vikings, might catch you."

She stands up and now is a head tallel than me. We walk together through the forest when we find a cave. We both get it. It's a little cold, but spacious.

"Okay, I want you to stay here and rest. I'll come again tommorow and bring some food" I say. In respond she nobbs at me and liks my hand.

"Haha, alright, see ya later..." I start saying when I notice how her eyes shine in the dark, like a pair of embers.

"Ember."

* * *

**And in case you're intrested, I have a drawing of Ember at my acount at deviantART, I have a link in my profile.**


	8. A stupid soldier

_Hiccup's POV_

Ah, at last. I sigh mentally as I reach the door of the Great Hall.

I've been at the forest up to now, After I went to find the Night Fury I was walking aimelessly, so caught up on my thoughts I didn't realixe how much time had passed untill it started running.

When I finally get to the door, I'm sooked to the bone.

Inside, I see Gobber and everyone else sitting on a table, eating and talking. Everyone exept Irene, who's sitting on her own on a table.

She raises her head and looks at me. See, like she knew I was there. It's starting to creep me out.

She smiles wide at me and motions for me to seat with her. I smile a little and take a plate with chiken from Gobber's table.

"Where did Hiccup go wrong today?" asks Gobber.

Ah, jeez Gobber, thanks. this is just what I wanted; being the centre of the conversation between people who can't stand my guts.

"He showed up?" asks Tuffnut.

Well, it's not like I wanted to be there.

"He didn't get eaten?" adds Ruffnut.

I think that would hurt a bit.

"He's never where he should be" says Astrid matter-of-factly.

"Thank you Astrid" replies Gobber.

Even though I know I messed up, this hurts. They'd all prefere it if I had been killed.

"You know, that's not true" says Irene, getting everyone's attetion. "From his point of view, he is where he should be. It's you who believe he did something wrong. Being yourself is not wrong."

Everyone's eyes are on her, mine too. But she doesn't seem to realize it. She's just staring at her cup, like she's thinking out-loud.

"Astrid, you are wrong. What you said isn't what he does wrong. He doesn't have any confidence in himself or his abilities. Thinks would be really different if he did."

Astrid glares at her for saying she was wrong, like she'll hurl her axe at her head.

"Ah, thank you Irene" says Gobber. "Alright, what did Irene did wrong?"

"Um, she saved Hiccup?" asks Snotlout, trying to be funny.

My eyes fall to my plate and stay there, not looking at anyone. Great, here it comes.

"Ugh." I hear Irene groan and look up at her from the corner of my eye. In a quick move, she throws a bone from her plate at Snotlout, who gets hit square on the face.

Which when I notice that, along with the bone she threw and the one she's eating, she has eaten six chiken legs, Wow, she has a big appetite.

"You're an idiot Snotface. Just think for once, what would have happened if I didn't? One, if Hiccup died Gobber would have to do all the job at the forge by himself or train a new apprentice, which would mean less weapons to fight dragons. Two, you whould be the future chief, and honestly, I don't think the village could survive that. "

Snotlout pouts and glares at her, but what he doesn't realize is that everyone is nobbing their heads.

"Three, if you were the next chief, families would want to make their daughters your wife. I don't think you'd like that, huh Astrid?"

Astrid shudders at the thought of Snotlout as her husband and nobs. Something, that again, he didn't notice.

"Four, I know Stoic lost his wife. He probably stoped sulking over her loss to raise Hiccup. What if he died too? Stiock would never break out of his grief, become a man that only cares about killing dragons as revenge and probably kill most of the village in searchs for the nest."

On the corner of my eye I see Gobber nobbing with a frittened look on his face. From that I realize that he thinks what Irene said is right.

"Last, and most important, I would never let a friend get hurt when I can do something about it."

There's a big smile on her face and I smile back.

"So, you see, that's not what I did wrong. I rushed at the Gronkle recklessly, without a plan. Maybe I had a reason but in a real raid, I could have been killed."

"Alright kids" says Gobber, dropping a big book on the table. "You need to live and breath this stuff."

"No, thank you, I'll stick to breathing oxygen" mutters Irene silently and only I hear her.

Theres a thunder out side and Gobber sighs.

"No attacks tonight. Study up."

"You mean read?" asks Tuffnut, scared by the mere idea.

"While we're still alive?" adds Ruffnut, equally scared.

"You can't when you'r dead!" yells Irene, throwing another bone.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?!" asks Snotlout. Wow, they're acting like reading is going to kill them.

"So you can actually have a brain!" yells Irene again. "Now, this is why you'd be terrible chief."

"Oh, I've read it like seven times!" exclaims Fishlegs excited. He goes through different dragon facts before Tuffnut cuts him off.

"And there was a chance I was going to read that..."

"... but now..." adds Ruffnut.

"You can stay here and read, I'm going to kill stuff" says Snotlout and heads for the door, with Fishlegs on his tail, blurting out facts about dragons.

"So, umm, guess we'll share" I say to Astrid. I know I suck at smooth talk, please don't rub it in.

"Read it" she says standing up and leaving the room.

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you-"

She leaves, banging the door on her way out.

"-tommorow."

"Hey Hiccup?"

I turn around to see Irene standing next to the table.

"Wanna share?" she asks, smiling.

"Yeah" I smile back.

We wait untill everyone leaves and we're the only ones at the Great Hall.

Irene brough some candles so we can read and we open the book. We skip through pages filled with facts about the dragons and ways to kill them.

The only thing incommon on every page? Kill on sight.

I doesn't matter what dragon it is, the book says that you should kill every dragon on sight. It makes me nauseous at the thought.

Finaly we get at the page I wanted to read.

"Night Fury."

The two pages where the information on the deadly dragon should be are completly blank if not for the few lines.

"Speed; unknown. Size; unknown. The unholy offspring of lighting and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only hope; hide and pray it does not find you."

My hands automaticly go to vest, to get my notebook out and see the drawing of the Night Fury but I stop at the last second, remebering Irene is next to me.

"Well, I'm beat" says Irene standing up. "Night Hiccup."

But I don't really pay attention to that, I'm too deep on my own thoughts to do.

If it's so dangerous and feared... why didn't it attack me?

* * *

_Irene's POV_

Jeez, I hate labyrinths.

As you might already have guessed 'today is all about ATTACK!'.

Hiccup is standing close to Gobber, asking him questions about Night Furies. Getting impatience, i run and drag Hiccup behind me.

"Focus Hiccup!" I yell at him over my shoulder, still draging him along. Behind us, the Nadder is trying to catch us. "Do you wanna die in here?"

We continue to run side by side. On the backround, you can hear Fishlegs screaming.

"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strice!" says Gobber.

We continue running, making sure we don't cross paths with the Nadder.

"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot, not so much" says Gobber. Huh, guess the twins almost died already.

"H-hey!" says Hiccup, stopping running infront of Gobber. " How would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tail. Now get in there!"

"I know, I know. But ypotheticly-"

"Hiccup!" whispers Astrid and motions for as to hide.

Astrid dives silently, without the dragon hearing her. Snotlout and I do too but things don't work so well for Hiccup. He's so light, the shield holds him back and the Nadder spots him.

"Come on Hiccup!" I yell and drag him out of the way.

I continue ruuning, Hiccup just stands there, asking Gobber questions, while all around us, the walls of the mase come crushing down.

"Has anyone ever seen one napping?" asks Hiccup while we all rush by him.

"Hiccup!" yells Gobber, making Hiccup turn around.

Astrid jumps from one falling wall to another, trying to get away from the Nadder.

"HICCUP!" she yells, but of course, Hiccup doesn't have the time to run away and Astrid falls on him.

I'm standing next to the twins, waiting for the dust to clear.

"Oh, love on the battlefield" says Tuffunut, teasing the couple-to-be thats strugling to untangle tmeselves.

"She can do better" adds Ruffnut. I snort.

"Yeah, right. I wanna hear you say that in five years from now" I comment smiling, getting 'WTF' look from the twins.

"Just- let me- why don't you- UGH!" says Hiccup as Astrid stands up and yanks her axe from his shield.

With a groan, she hits her futre dragon on the head, sending her whinning away.

Hiccup is still on the floor, curled up in a ball.

"Hey, are you alright?" ask him softly but he doesn't get the chance to respond because Astrid goes on her little rant.

"IS this some kind of a joke to you?" she asks with the same killing glint in her eyes as when she's fighting a dragon.

"Our parents war is about to become ours. Figure out wich side you're on." With that she turns to walk away but the hurt look on Hiccups face, and the fact that I always hated this sceen, make me do something unexpected.

I stand up and in a quick move, grab her hand.

She turns around, stunned but I continue glaring at her.

"Yes, it is a joke for me" I tell her, digging my nails in her wrist. "This is a stupid war, and you're the stupid soldier who fights and kills without ever questioning anything. You're just a puppet, a puppet that never wondered why all this is happening. I guess it's not my place to to do something about that, but if you pull a stunt like this again, oh you don't want to know what'll happen."

I throw away her hand, grab Hiccup and get out of the arena, all the while feeling Astrid's glare on my back.

We're away from the arena, I let Hiccup's wrist.

"Sorry for that. I just got angry."

"I-it's okay. Thank you" he says, still not used to the idea someone will stand for him.

"No problem" I say, turning my back to him to head to the woods. "But you know; she had a point. You should figure out which side you're on."

"Have you?" he asks.

I look at him over my shoulder and smile.

"I have. But I ain't gonna tell. You have to find out by yourself."


	9. Goodbye my friend

**Here it is! **

**Oh, I changed something in chapter7, which is simly that Snotlout says that when that happens Vikings will fly and he'll eat his helmet.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

I exit the forest a complet mess, dirty, flustered and my hair sticking out in odd angles. Yet I have the biggest smile EVER on my face.

The last few hours where the most exciting of my life. But lets take things from the start.

When I left Hiccup I headed to the woods. I made sharp turns and took different paths to make sure no one would follow me. Finally, I reached the cave where I had left Ember.

It's a pretty big cave, about the size of Hiccup's house. A little ways inside was Ember, liying on her stomach and observing a spark intensly. I giggled when she tried to catch it and made a sad face when she didn't find it between her paws.

"Hi Ember" I said. "How are you?"

She let, what I think is, a happy croon, followed by a loud sound from her belly.

"Guess you're hungry. Here you go." I take out some chiken and fish from my bag. Judging from the amount of fish Toothless eats, I brough a lot to be sure.

"Hope you like chiken. I brought some fish too. Tell me which you like best."

I threw one of each at her and she caught both in her jaws and gulped them down.

"So?"

She came closer to me and after a few sounds that I now too well what mean, shows me her tongue, with a fish head on it.

"The fish huh? Thought so. Well, next time I'll bring more next time but you'll have to do with the chiken for now."

After that we ate (I had brought some food for me too). I asked her qustions and she answered with gestures or actually showing me sometimes. Seems that she's a rare dragon, as rare as Toothless, and comes from the south. She also can breath lave and appearantly heals REAL fast. That or Gothi makes really good creams.

Suddenly she stood up and motioned for me to follow. I did, not sure what she wanted. She climbed up the mountain our cave was at, stooping once every few meters to wait for me.

At last, we reached a little cliff at the side of the mountain.

"So what now?" I asked.

In respond, Ember charged at me and before I realized it i was sitting at her back.

"What the-? Oh boy..." I said, ready to pee my pants when Ember looked at me over her shoulder smirking.

And then she took off.

Astrid, I now realize what that first flight must have been like for you. The take off knocked the wind out of me and I was clinging at Embers neck for dear life.

"Is this a bad time to say I'm afraid of heights?!" I screamed, hoping she'd pity me or just slow down.

But that didn't happen, at least for a few moments. Ember kept flying untill she came to a stop and started flying smoothly.

I slowly sat up and gasped. It was amazing. The chilly air throw my hair, the sun on my skin, the senery. Oh, the senery. It was beautiful. Everything looked so small, Berk buzzing with the daily activity, the glistering sea and the puffy clouds.

"Holy shity shit..." I muttered. "Wow... just... wow."

I smiled at Ember and hugged her.

"Thank you" I said quetly. "This is amazing."

We spend the next couple of hours flying, Ember taking the lead since I knew scrap about flying.

Sadly, we had to land. She didn't like it and neither did I but we had to. I had to meet the others plus it hurts to ride a dragon without a sadle.

"So I guess... this is goodbye" I whispered sadly when we were infront of the cave.

Ember can fly, she can leave, there's nothing holding her here and I can't force her to stay here.

I try to keep my face emotionless but I'm sure I don't do such a good job.

I hear a snort and feel Ember's head against my stomach. She turns around and heads to the cave. Before she goes in she glances at me and gives me her best smile, which is more like a smirk but still.

Aaand that's what happened. I know I look like a complet nutcase, but really; I don't give a damn. I'm way too happy.

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

"... and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on its face; I was delicious. He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one took my leg."

We were sitting at the catapult tower, eating dinner and hearing Gobber's story of how he lost his hand and leg, a story I've heard more times than I can count.

But to be honest, I wasn't paying attention. My eyes were glued to the floor as I was busy thinking about the toothless dragon. I really don't get it. Night Furies are supposed to me the most dangerous dragons, but he wasn't dangerous, not even scary.

So, if the 'unholy offspring of lightning and death itself' isn't, what about other dragons?

I can hear Snotlout talking about something but I don't pay attention.

"It's the wings and the tail you really want. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

A look of terror spreads along my face as my mind goes through the new information.

A dead dragon... so he's going to die? No, that can't happen, it can't. He'll_ die_ because of _my_ mistake?

No, no it won't happen. I have to do something.

Gobber goes on about getting to the Monstrus Nightmare who will kill it and sneak out. I run down the stairs and sprint to the forge.

When I get there I open my notebook and redraw the taill fin.

"Now see what we've got here. Isn't it a little late to be working Hiccup?"

I turn around, almost falling down from doing so too fast. Irene is standing at the door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Irene... ah, hi, wha-what are you doing here?" I ask, while trying to cover my sketches.

"Hiccup, have I ever told you you're a terrible liar? Seriously, I wonder how no one figured out."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" I say trying to play stupid. But on the inside I'm going crazy.

_She knows?! Oh, no, no no no. That's it, I'm dead._

"See; that's what I'm talking about" she says pointing at me. "Terrible liar. Yes, you do Hiccup. I'm talking about this."

Before I can react she has reached behind my back and snatched my notebook, holding Toothless' sketch in my face.

"How did you figure it out?" I ask, sighing.

"You were acting weird lately, so I followed you."

"And... you're not mad?"

"Nope. Not really."

Wow... just... wow. I knew she was one weird girl but I never thought she'd acept this so easily.

"Now" she continues, "let's get to work. We have a tail fin to make, don't we?"


	10. I'll take that as a 'yes'

_Hiicup's POV_

If you had told me some weeks ago that a girl would come at the village, become my friend, even stand up for me, and ,even thought she's been hearing for weeks that dragons are 'evil and mindless killing machines', acept my friendship with Toothless faster than you can say 'DRAGON RAID!', I wouldn't have believed you for an instant and walked away slowly.

But I was wrong, because that's _exactly _what happened. Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't expect that either, but I guess you should exepect everything from Irene; she's the starngest person I've ever met. Then again, I've never left the island... but still!

With Irene's help I was able to make the tail fin a lot faster. She gave me some tips when making the blueprints- where did she learn so much about aerodunamics?- and since she's heavier than me- don't tell her that!- she was able to keep the heat of the fire steady a lot easier than I could have.

We woke up before dawn today so we'd have time to try the fin on Toothless and not seem suspicious. Or, well, Irene did and draged me out of bed.

We're walking to the cove, Irene carrying the prototype with me a few steps behind, strugling to carry the basket with Toothless' breakfast.

"Ahh!" I scream as I stuble on a root on the ground and fall on my face.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asks Irene Standing over me.

"Yeah" I grunt, trying to stand up but the weight of the basket drags me back down.

"Come, lets switch. I'll carry this" offers Irene, gigling and putting the fin on the ground.

I step away from the basket and take the fin as Irene straps the basket on her back and kicks the ground hard. She stands up but almost falls forward.

"Huh, I thought it'd be heavier" she mutters and starts walking again.

"Wha-? How do you carry it so easy?" I ask, amazed.

"Back home we have to carry our equipment to the training grounds almost every day. It's pretty heavy; but it makes for some really good ecxercise." She says smiling.

We walk the rest of the way to the cove in silence, Irene leading the way. It strucks me as weird at first, but then I remember that she said she followed me so that must be why she know the way.

Finally, we enter the cove, Toothless immideatly running to us. He stops short when he sees Irene, but after a few sniffs he snuggles at her legs.

"Wow" I say. "I never thought he'd be so welcoming with new people."

"Yeah, ah, maybe he understands that I don't want to hurt him" she says, kind of nervous, but maybe that's just me. Toothless is behind us and smells the basket francticly.

"Or he just smells that I have food with me."

"Yeah, seems a lot more like him" I agree.

"Come on Toothy" calls Irene. "I have some tasty fish here. And it's all for you."

She runs away from Toothless and he runs after her. She stops sudddely and knocks the basket down ,spilling fish everywhere. Thanks to the speed he had already build, Toothless runs past her. He quikly runs back, and attacks the fish.

"Wait!" yells Irene, stopping Toothless with a fish dangling from his mouth. She reaches into the pille and pulls out an eel. Toothless shrieks and backs away the moment he sees it and Irene throws it away.

"That was close" she sighs, walking to me and letting Toothless eat his fish.

"Why did you do that?" I ask.

"The eel? Dragons are afraid of them. Knew a trader once; some dragons attacked his ship once and flew away when he accdently spilled a basket full of eels."

Dragons... are afraid of eels? I know it doesn't taste good but... we are they afraid of them?

We walk behind Toothless and I strap the fin on him as Irene holds his tail still.

"There. Not too bad. It works."

Faster than I can blink the ground has dissapeared from underneath me.

"Woah! No! No!" I scream as Toothless flies. I hold onto his tail like my life depens on it; and I'm pretty sure it does.

Suddenly Toothless starts falling. I open my eyes and I see the problem, the tail fin is closed. I reach out my hand and yank it open.

"It's working!" I yell happy, Toothless climbing high into the sky.

"Yes! I did it!" I scream when-

WHOOMP!

One moment I'm holding onto Toothless' tail, the next I'm falling down into the pond.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"Hiccup, are you alright?" I hear Irene asking in the distance.

"YEAH!"

"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

_Irene's POV_

"Today is about teamwork. Work together and you might survive."

_Wow Gobber, that gives us much confidence._

Today we're training with the Zippleback. Gobber put us in teams; Fishlegs with Hiccup, Snotface with Tuffnut and the three girls together.

"Now, a wet dragon head can light it's fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra triky; one head breaths gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

"And yet we're still not getting paid" I say jokingly. I earn a giggle from Ruffnut, but, as expected, Astrid didn't even smile._ I swear, that girl is tough to crack, gotta hand it to her._

All three of us are bouncing on our toes, ready to throw our water at the Zippleback if it appears- even though I know we don't get a chance.

"Will you please stop that?!" I hear Hiccup hissing at Fishlegs in the distance.

My eyes widden and I inch away from Strid and Ruff. They notice it but it's too late.

"There!" shouts Snothlout as water comes flying out of the for and falling on the girls.

"Hey!" yells Astrid, glaring at the two boys. _Gods, have mercy on them._

"It's us, idiots!" adds Ruff, glaring at the two like Astrid. _Ah, I feel sorry for them._

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon" explains Tuff, trying to calm them down.

_The poor idiot; you should never talk bad about a woman's body if you want to live to see the next day._

"Not that there is anything bad with a dragon-ish figure" adds Snotlout, trying to save things and failing miserably.

_See?! Even Snotface knows it!_

Astrid elbows Snotlout on the face and Ruff punches her brother at the throat, knocking him down.

"Wait" says Astrid but a tail has appeared from the fog and kicks their feet from underneath them, making them fall and drop all of their water.

I run at Hiccup and Fishlegs just as Tuff comes running out off the fog screaming "Oh, I'm hurt! I'm so much hurt!"

"Chances of survival a dwindling into single digits now..." mutters Fishlegs, looking like he's about to pee in his pants.

"Thanks, that's really encouraging Legs" I mutter back.

"Look out!" yells Hiccup as Barf-and-Belch-to-be appear.

Fishlegs hurls his water at him, completly dousing the head. It leers and opens its mout in a creepy smile, letting gas float out.

"Ah, wrong head" I point out matter-of-fact-ly.

Fishlegs runs away in panic, screaming like a little girl.

"Now!" yells Gobber. Hiccup and I hurl our water towards the sparking head but Hiccup's water falls infont of him and mine falls down when I 'trip'.

"Oh, come on!" complains Hiccup.

"RUN!" yells Gobber behind us.

But Hiccup is petrified.

"Hiccup, the eel" I hiss at him silently at him.

His eyes go wide and he walks towards the two-headed dragon with his arms held out.

"Back! Back! Back! Now don't you make me tell you again!" he says as he pushes the Zippleback back to its cage.

The fog has cleared out and I can see the other teens looking at Hiccup like they just saw a dragon wearing a monocle and drinking tea with a giant, pink-tutu-wearing bear with a blonde wig.

"Yeah, that's it, back into you're cage."

The Zippleback is inside its cage and back away the farthest corner, trying to get away from the eel Hiccup has thrown inside.

"Now think of what you've done."

Hiccup closes the cage's door, turning around while whiping his hands on his vest. He stops short when he sees Gobber and the teens looking at him, wide-eyed, open-mouthed and frozen in place. Fishlegs empty bucket falls down with a thub and I close Snotlout's mouth with a smirk on my face.

"Nice job, Hiccup"I say giving him a thumbs-up.

"Ah, thank you" he says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, are we done? 'Cause I have some things I need to... yep, see you later."

Astrid sneers, suspecting something is going on.

I_ really_ need to teach him how to lie.


	11. Free falling

_Irene's POV_

For the next couple of weeks things were peaceful. Dragon training was an everyday thing, but with Hiccup learning all his little tricks from Toothless things were easier.

I helped Hiccup make his saddle and when he was sleeping I sneaked out of the house to make my own. Hey, it hurts riding a dragon without a saddle!

Putting it on Ember wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. She was sceptical at first, but I explained that it hurt flying with her without it. I don't think she like the idea if me being hurt because she let me put it on her without trouble.

Even if she didn't at first, I think she's glad she accepted the saddle. With it, and the harmnes I made, we were able to fly faster and even try some acrobaticts. I swear, she can be such a show off sometimes.

Unfortunatly, Toothless wasn't so easy. He run the moment he saw the saddle, so we had to chace him down. Which ended with me hanging from his neck and Hiccup running after us.

At last we were able to make him wear it and started training in flying. They were getting better with each try and adjustment he made to the saddle and fin, but I still had to carry a first aid kit in my bag to treat their wounds.

And so the days went by. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. There's something strangly amusing in watching Astrid being jealous and teasing Hiccup about his crush on her.

But all good things have to end and the day of the final exam is getting closer everyday. Oh, boy.

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

I take a deep breath, the cold air hitting my face.

Normaly, if I was hundred meters above the ground, with a really big possibility that I'll fall down and die without anyone knowing, I would have peed my pants. But for some reason I'm not.

"Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow" I tell Toothless, mostly to calm myself down, as I look at my cheat sheet.

"Here we go. Here we go... position three, no four."

I turn the tail fin in the correct position and lean on Toothless' back.

Yes, it's working! I watch Toothless' moves, trying to match them with the prosthetic.

"Alright, it's go time, it's go time."

I see a big arch of stone rissing from the sea and nubge Toothless to fly towards it.

"Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!"

We line up to pass throught it and-

"Yeah! Yes, it worked!"

And while I'm celebrating, we run into a sea stack.

"Sorry."

We hit another one and Toothless grumbles at me.

"My fault."

Toothless slaps me with one of his ears, appearantly agreeing that it was my fault.

"Yeah, I'm on it. Position four, no three."

We climb towards the sky, passing throught the clouds. I look back down, seeing the whole island from abone for the first time. I swalow hard, trying not th think how much it'll hurt if I fall from here.

"Yeah! Go baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my-"

My eyes fall on the cheat sheet, flapping rapidly in the wind and breaking free.

"-cheat sheet! STOP!"

I try to reach it, panicking and managing to do it in the last second. Unfortunatly, Toothless obeyed my comand, and stoped flapping his wings in mid air.

"NO! Oh gods! Oh no!"

We start falling down, Toothless trying to get me back on his back but without me the prosthetic is useless.

"Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no... come back down towards me. Come back down-"

I spred my arms and legs, trying to slow my fall. I get closer to him, but he accidently hits me with his wing.

I try again and at last I manage to lock in my harmness, just in time to pull Toothless up and avoid hitting the treetops.

But were not finished yet. We're flying in top speed towards several sea stacks. I pull out my cheat sheat, attempting to look at the psitions, but it flaps so violently it's impossible.

Taking a rash decision, I throw it a way and work the prosthetic on instict. We don't chrush into a single sea stacks, making it to the open untouched.

"YEAH!" I yell, throwing my hands in the air.

But I wasn't the only one celebrating. Toothless squeals and shots a fireball. My arms fall down and my glee flies out of the window.

"Ah, come on."

* * *

Toothless and I are sitting on a beach, eating fish and relaxing after our test-drive that almost killed us.

I'm cooking mine over the fire when Toothless regurgitates a fish head for me.

"Uh... no, thanks" I say and gesture at my fish. "I'm good."

A group of Terrible Terrors lands at the beach, squealing and hissing at each other. They approache Toothless' pile of fish and a Terror drags the fish head Toothless gave me away. Another one tries to steal it and the two tiny dragons start fighting each other.

Toothless and I just sit and watch them, untill one of Toothless' fish decides to go for a walk. Toothless and the Terrible Terror tug on it, the fish snaps back to Toothless and he eats it, laughting tauntingly.

Angry, the little dragon paws the ground like an angry bull and open its mouth to fire at Toothless. Said Night Fury spits a tiny fire ball in side the Terros mouth, looking extremly bored. The Terror puffs up, looking like a ball with legs, and walks like it's drunk, coughing smoke.

"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" I laugh and throw him my fish. "Here you go."

The Terror gulps down the fish and approaches me cautiously. He curls next to me and I pet him carefully, not to wake him up.

I can't believe people back at the village are so passionate about killing dragons.

"Everything we know about you guys is wrong."


	12. We're dead

_Hiccup's POV_

I was lying on my desk, my mimd racing, when dad came in.

"Dad! You're back!" I say, standing to hide my scketches. "Gobber's not here, so..."

"I know" he says. "I came looking for you."

"You did?" Wow, that's a first.

You've been keeping secrets."

W-what? Oh, no. My legs give out and I fall on my chair.

"I-I don't know what you're..."

"Nothing happens on this island without me knowing about it."

"Oh." Oh, no, oh non no no.

"So" he say. "Let's talk about that dragon."

Oh, boy. This is bad, really, really bad. As Irene would say, I'm screwed.

"Oh Gods. Dad, I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how to-"

Dad starts laughting. Loud too. So loud I'm pretty sure the room is shaking.

"You're not... upset?"

"What?! I was hopping for this!"

W-wait... what?

"Uh... y-you were?"

I'm getting really confused here.

"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait you splill a Nadder's guts for the first time!" Says dad, remembering when he did those thinks. "And mount your first Gronkle head on a spear! What a feeling!"

He leans backwards, holding his stomach and laughting. He 'pats' my shoulder and sends me to the wall.

"You really had me there going son! All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen! Odin, it was rough, I almost gave up on you!"

I manage to smile, even though I feel like I want the earth to open up and swalow me.

"And all the while, you were holding out on me! Oh, Thor almighty!"

He grabs a stool and sits down, the little room filled by his enormous frame.

"Imagine what I was like when Gobber told me about your success and your little girlfriend!" he says, laughting. I pretened to laught too, but I stop when I realize what he said.

"Wait... what girlfriend?"

"No need to be embarrassed son. Gobber told me about you and that Irene girl disapearing in the woods everyday. Ha ha, my little boy's becoming a man!"

He 'pats' me on the back again and it has the same resolt as before.

"Ahh, with you doing so well in the the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

There's a long, akward pause. Dad's looking at me like a five year old wanting to hear a story.

"Oh, I brouth you something" he says and shows me a horned helmet. "To keep you safe in the ring."

"Wow. Thanks" I say, taking the helmet in a daze.

I can hardly believe it. In Berk, your helmet is what shows you're a real Viking, a real part of the tribe.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it. It's half of her breast plate" he says taping his helmet. "Matching set. Keeps her close, you know?"

My mother's... ew. Really dad, really?

"Wear it proudly. you deserve it. You've held your end of the deal" He says, beaming with pride.

Pride... for something I'm not...

"I should really get to bed" I say, yawning.

We talk over each other akwardly and dad stands up to leave.

"Well... uh... good night: he says and leaves.

When he does, I fall down on my stool and bury my face in my hands.

"I'm so screwed..." I mutter.

* * *

_Irene's POV_

I'm standing with Fishlegs, Ruff and Tuff near the cage over the ring, watching Hiccup and Astrid 'fighting' for the right to kill the Monstrus Nightmare.

Down on the ring, Gobber open's the Gronkle's cage.

"I'm sure Astrid will win" says Snotlout. "Hiccup might be good, but Astrid is the best."

"Care to bet on that?" I ask, taking out some money from my bag.

"You got it!"

Down on the ring, Astrid jumps from one barrier to another while Hiccup is standing there uncomfortably. Unknown to him, the Gronkle flies towards him. When he realizes it, he 'punches' the dragon, that falls to the ground like a drunk puppy.

Astrid jumps out from behind the barrier with a battle cry, which turns into a groan and a swearing fit when she sees that Hiccup has taken down the Gronkle.

Gothi taps the cage, stepping forward.

"Wait! Wait!" yells Stoick, making the Vikings be quiet.

Hiccup tries to leave, but Gobber lifts him up and puts him back down.

"Okay, quiet down. The elder has decieded" Says Stoick.

Gobber points at Astrid and Gothi nobs 'no'. He points at Hiccup and Gothi nobs 'yes'.

Roars and cheering erupts around the ring and Snotlout's mouth is hunging open.

"I'll be taking that" I say and take the money he betted.

A couple of hours later, I'm heading to Hiccup's house when I see him getting out of the back door carrying a big basket.

He he, time to get my ninja on! Nin nin!

* * *

"Let's pack up. Looks like you and I are going on a liitle vacation. Forever." Is what I hear when I reach the cove. After I saw Hiccup sneaking out I ran to Ember's cave and we flew back here without Hiccup seeing us.

Hiccup walks in the cove, too lost in his own thoughts to notice Astrid. He sets his basket down and opens it. He raises his head and sees Astrid, sitting on a rock and sharpening her axe.

"Ah! What the-! What are you doing here?" He asks, trying to stay calm.

She hops off the rock and spinning her axe threateningly.

"I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone? Is it that smartass little girfriend of yours?"

Smartass? I'm not- okay, sometimes.

"She's not my girlfriend-"

Astrid grabs his harmness and almost lifts him off the ground. Okay, why does every one does that?

"And what the heck is this?"

"I know this looks really bad, but... this is...uh..." says Hiccup nervous.

There's a rustle coming from the other side of the cove and Astrid drops Hiccup to go see what it is.

"Okay, that's it, you got me" he says panicked, blocking her way, "I've been making... outfits!"

See? This is what I mean when I say he's a bad liar.

"So, you got me. It's time every one knows. Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go."

He puts Astrid hand on his harmness, wanting him to drag him back. Astrid grabs his arm and twists it, making him fall to the ground.

"Ah! Why would you do that?!"

"That's for the lies."

"And that" she continues, droping the hilt of her axe at his stomach, "is for everything else."

Hiccup's groan of pain is answered by a growl, coming fro the opposite side of the cove. Astrid turns around to see Toothless charging at her.

She dives onto Hiccup, knocking him to the ground again.

"Get down! Run! Run!" she yells, her axe ready to take on Toothless.

"No!" yells Hiccup and knocks her axe off her hands, throwing it out of her reach.

"It's okay, it's okay" he says softly, trying to calm Toothless. "She's a friend."

Toothless snorts, not believin it one bit.

"You just scared him."

"_I_ scared_ him_?!' snaps Astrid. Hiccup makes a 'be quiet' motion.

"_Who_ is_ him_?" she whispers.

"Um, Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid" he says, gesturing from one to the other.

Astrid looks at them frozen, pure discust on her face. Moving her head in a 'how could you?' kind of motion, she runs to the village.

"Da da da. We're dead."


	13. Then let me show you

_Hiccup's POV_

"Da da da. We're dead."

Seriously, why can't things never work out like I want them to?

Giving a snort, Toothless walks away with a satisfited face.

"Where do you think you're going?" I ask him. He motions to the pond with his head and walks towards it again.

"No no no, we have to catch up to Astrid. We can't let her tell every one about you."

Toothless looks at me with a face clearly saying "I don't care."

"I'll give you a fish if you help me" I say.

Not intrested at all.

"Two?"

Nothing.

"Okay, three, but that's my last offer."

Toothless thinks about it for a second and nobs.

* * *

"Over there bud" I say pointing at Astrid, running at top speed to the village.

We dive down and snatch her while she's jumping over a log.

"Oh, Great Odin's ghost, this is it!" she screams scared.

Huh, were I like that on my first flight?

We fly to a big pine and drop Astrid on it. When we land on it, it bows under us.

"Hiccup! Get me down from here!" she yells.

"Not untill you give me a chance to explain."

"I'm not listening to _anything _you have to say!"

"Then I won't talk" I say, reaching out to her. "Just let me show you."

She eyes what's under her and when she sees that the fall would kill her she huffs and takes my hand. She get's on Toothless, trying to have as little contact as possible.

"Now get me down" she demads but the fear in her voice stands out from a mile.

"Toothless? Down. Gently."

Toothless spreds his wings slowly, ready to take off. I turn back to Astrid, wanting to calm her down.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of."

You know, I never understood why, everytime you say 'nothing to be afraid of' there's always something to be afraid of.

Toothless takes off in a almost straight flight upwords. Astrid's screaming, hanging onto me for dear life.

"Toothless! What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon! He's not usually like this. Oh no..."

Toothless rolls and plumets downward. Astrid screams, not that it stops Toothless from doing his acrobatics. Toothless rockets over the wave, diving in and out and getting us soaked to the bone.

"Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to like us!"

But Toothless doesn't listen to me. He flies skyward and startrs spinning. Good think I haven't eaten.

"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

"Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing" screams Astrid, pressing her face on my back.

Toothless lets a satisfied huff and levels off. We fly calmly into the clouds but Astrid refuses to look up.

I hear a gasp and look back. Astrid has opened her eyes and she's looking around wide-eyed. She reaches out and touches a cloud, grining despite herself. She puts both of her hands out and giggles.

Okay, the apology was wierd enough but the gigling... I think that fish Toothless gave me to eat is starting to effect my brain.

We emerge from the clouds onto the night sky, the Northen lights shining above us. We fly over Berk, the only light coming from the houses below.

Astrid puts her arms around my waist and rests her head on my shoulder. I smile nervously, glad for the darknes covering my red face.

_Note to self,_ I think patting Toothless' head_, give Toothless an extra fish._

"Okay, I'll admit it. Thi is pretty cool. This is... amzing. He's amazing" says Astrid, more calmly than I've ever seen her, patting Toothless on the head.

"So what now?" she asks after a minute. I groan. And I had actually forgoten about that.

"Hiccup, your final exam is tommorow. You know you'll have to-" she starts saying, then continueing in a whisper, so Toothless doesn't hear. "- kill a dragon."

"Don't remind me."

* * *

_Irene's POV_

I'm flying in the clouds, trying to stay hidden. Ember and I followed the three of them from the start of their flight and even though Ember has vivid orange scales, they didn't see us.

Toothless goes tense, but Hiccup doesn't notice. He makes a sharp turn and flies away of Berk. Hiccup tells him something but I can't hear cleary from where I am. Toothless barks at him and dives in the fog. We follow close behind.

All sort of dragons apear and duck down. They all carry food; sheep, boars, fish... a cat?

The dragons turn and twist, avoiding sea stacks and rocks in a silent dance. The fog clears up as we get closer to the nest. We fly through a narrow tunnel and reach the inside of the nest.

We hide behind a wall at the opposite side of Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid and wait. Dragons come in and drop their food in the pit. That poor Gronkle flies in and drops a single fish. A terrible roar shakes the whole mountain and the Red Death juts out of the fog and eats the Gronkle whole.

I never thought that thing could be more discusting but it hurts your eyes just looking at it up close.

The Red Death smells the air and looks towards where Toothless is hiding. It roars and a lot dragons take flight, scared. I see Toothless trying to flee and take off.

"Okay girl" I whisper to Ember, flying to the exit. "Now! Fire!"

Ember spits a bal of lava the size of a canon ball at the Red Death and it hits it in the eye. We fly away unscrached, and that inclodes the Zippleback that died in the movie.

We fly back to Berk in silence. When we reach the island, we leave Toothless and the other fly to the cove and head to our cave.

"That was a really good shot girl" I say, petting her head. "Here; I brought you some fish."

By 'some fish' I mean a mini mountain of fish.

"You better get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us. You'll need your strenthg."

I kiss Ember's forehead for goodnight and sprint back to the village. I see Hiccup aproashing and run faster. I climd the stairs in the dark and jump in my makeshift bed, predenting to be asleep.

I hear Hiccup walking in dropping on his, sighing deeply.

"Tommorow will sure be an intresting day. "

To put it mildly.

"


	14. why?

**Here it is! I want to thank wanna-play-a-game, my new beta reader! Thanks dude! ... or girl.**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

And the time has come, ladies and gentlemen, for the final exam of this year's dragon training!

The entire village of Berk is gathered around the arena, fighting for a good view of the ring. Literally.

I'm standing near the entrance, wanting to be close so I can help Hiccup and Toothless when the time comes. Astrid left to talk to Hiccup a few minutes before, after I teased her a little about worrying for her boyfriend. When am I ever gonna find another chance like this? I gotta milk it for all it's worth!

"Well, I can show my face in public again!" said Stoick, starting his speech.

"With that face of yours? Nah." I mutter to no one. I really need to stop talking to myself.

"If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would have gone from being, well, Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training... I would've tied him to mast and shipped them off for fear they've gone mad!"

_Harsh._

"But now here we are. No one's more surprised...", dramatic pause, "... or more proud than I am. Today my boy becomes a Viking. Today he becomes one of us!"

_Well, there goes having a brain. And seeing your toes. And- okay, I better stop here._

Hiccup enters the ring, wearing his helmet on his head. The crowd cheers for him and the teens shout something lost in the wind. He adjusts his shield and chooses a small dagger.

"I'm ready" he says, trying to sound confident. He doesn't do a good job on that though.

The cage's doors open. After a moment of silence, the Monstrous Nightmare appears, covered in fire. It roars loudly and climbs on the metal cage surrounding the ring, hissing and firing at the Vikings cheering for Hiccup to kill it.

The Nightmare spots Hiccup and walks up to him slowly, putting out his flames. Everyone grows silent, not wanting to miss a moment of the fight. The Nightmare gets closer and closer and Hiccup drops his shield and dagger.

Murmurs rise from the audience, wondering what the heck is Hiccup doing. Hiccup holds out his hand and thanks to the fact that no one is talking, you can hear him saying "It's okay, it's okay."

The Nightmare doesn't move, but just stands there, looking at Hiccup's helmet. The symbol of his Viking-ness.

He takes off his helmet and looks at it, like his thinking about his choices. With a deep breath, he makes his decision.

He throws it aside.

"I'm not one of them."

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

That's it. No turning back now.

"Stop the fight !" I hear dad yelling but I don't move.

"No. I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

The Monstrous Nightmare get closer and closer. There's only an inch left when-

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!"

Dad yells. The Nightmare's pupils turn to slits and she snaps at my arm. She lights herself on fire again and attacks. I scream and run as fast as my feet can carry me.

I run, trying to avoid the Nightmare, but I don't have anywhere to run in here with doors closed.

"Ahhhh!" I scream when I'm almost roasted alive. I try to reach the weapons rack to arm myself, but the Nightmare destroys it. And there  
goes my last chance.

"Hiccup!" I hear Astrid screaming my name and next thing I know, she has thrown a hammer at the Monstrous Nightmare, who starts chasing her instead.

"This way!" yells dad. Astrid runs and passes through. I'm almost there when the Nightmare fires at the door. Surprised, I jump backwards and the Nightmare traps me between its claws. It takes a deep breath, ready to blast my head off.

I've heard from older Vikings that, when they were close to dying, they saw their whole life flashing before of their eyes. But I don't see my life. But all I see is a black dragon, with green cat-like eyes, flashing a toothless smile.

"Night Fury! Get down!"

There's a piercing scream and the Nightmare is no longer above me. Toothless is here, fighting against her. He kicks her off and stands between us, snarling and growling.

_No nononono... This is bad__! __Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I'm not a __pile__ of ashes, but this is dangerous__!_ _ The only reason why they're not attacking Toothless already is because they're too shocked. But when that stops... We need to get out of here. Now__!_

"Alright, Toothless, go. Get out of here!" I say, trying to push him away but he doesn't move.

"Night Fury!" Vikings jump into the ring, ready to... _Oh, boy._ I try to get Toothless to leave, but he just stays there, keeping the Nightmare away.

"Go! Go!" I yell, but Toothless doesn't listen.

"Take it alive!"

Dad grabs an axe and rushes into the ring.

"Dad! No! He won't hurt you!"

He doesn't listen. Toothless spots him running towards us, his axe in hand and rushes at him, knocking down several Vikings in the meantime._  
_

"No, don't! Oh, you're only making it worse!"

Dad raises his axe to attack. Toothless pounces on him.

"Toothless STOP!"

He pins dad down. He inhales and-

"NO!"

Toothless stops and looks at me confused.

"Get him!" yells someone. A Vikings pushes Toothless off of dad and they all pounce on him, pinning him down.

I try to help him but Astrid and Irene hold me back. Astrid is looking the other way but Irene holds me from my left arm, her hands shaking, glaring at  
the Vikings with tears in her eyes.

"No! Please... just don't hurt him. Please, don't hurt him."

Dad stands up, fuming. A Vikings offers him an axe and he eyes Toothless. _No... dad, please, no..._

"Put him with the others" he says, pushing the axe aside.

* * *

I'm pushed into the Great Hall. Everything is dark, the torches on the walls un-lit.

"I should have known. I should have seen the signs" Dad mutters.

"Dad."

"We had a deal!" he yells. He sighs heavily and continues walking.

"I know we did... but that was before... Oh, this is all so messed up."

_Why... Why can't this be fake, just a bad dream I have because I ate too much?_

"So everything in the ring? A trick? A lie?" he says, stomping towards me.

"I screwed up. I should have told you before now. Take this out on me, be mad at me, but please... just don't hurt Toothless."

"The dragon? That's what you're worried about?! Not the people you almost killed?!" he yells, outrageous.

"He was just protecting me. He's not dangerous!"

_Why can you not see it, why?_

"They've killed_ hundreds_ of us!"

"AND WE'VE KILLED _THOUSANDS_ OF THEM!"

_Why can't you just open up your eyes and see what's right __in front__ of you?_

Dad is taken back. Maybe he'll understand if I explain him.

"They're defending themselves, that's all! They raid us because they have to! If they don't bring back enough food they'll be eaten themselves. There's something else on their island dad... It's dragon like-"

"Their island?" Dad asks, like he's not sure he heard right. "So you've been to the nest."

_Oops. Too much information._

"Did I say nest?"

Dad... I've never seen him like this. He looks... like he's ready to go to war. A mad gleam in his eye and an air that scares enemies away.

"Where is it? How did you find it?!"

"No... I-I didn't, Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the nest."

Dad freezes. I can see realization hitting him, an idea forming in his mind. He heads for the door.

"Oh no. Dad, no. No." I chase after him panicked. I can't let him go there. I can't.

"Dad. It's not what you think. You don't know what you're up against. It's like nothing you've ever seen."

He doesn't listen. I grab his arm, trying to stop with everything I got, but nothing.

"Dad, please. I promise you, you can't win this one."

Nothing.

"No. Dad, no. For once in your life, WILL YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME?!"

Dad pushes me off, throwing me to the floor. Did he just...?

"You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking. You're not my son."

He turns around, banging the door on his way out.

_N-no... No, it can't be... __Why... why?_


	15. Something crazy

_Irene's POV_

I hate this scene. I truly do. If I could, I would punch this scene in the face. But I can't do that. It was already bad enough when I was just watching the movie, but to actually be here, it just made it worse._  
_

I just felt so... useless. I hate feeling like that. I hate it when all I can do is just sit by and watch. I felt absolutely horrible, holding Hiccup back while they took his best friend captive, knowing that I could have done _something_ to change it but didn't. I know things had to happen this way, but still... it hurt.

I stand up with a groan. After the whole incident in the arena ended, I didn't wanna be anywhere near the Great Hall, so I stayed here. I can't sulk on forever, though. Better get ready.

Walking back to the village, I see the teens standing there and talking. Wait a second... ding ding! Idea!

I approach them carefully (ninja mode!) and they don't notice me.

"I wonder what they're going to do to the Night Fury." Fishlegs mused. He probably wants to learn more about Toothless. He is a dragon nerd after all.

"Kill it." Snotlout replied. "Duh."

"Nah," I pip in. "Stoick won't do that."

They all turn to me, some more surprised than others (Astrid didn't react much, Fishlegs squeaked.)

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't he kill that thing?" Snotlout asks.

"First of all, don't call him 'a thing'-"

"And what am I supposed to call it? It's just a dragon."

"A dragon that happens to be the only reason your cousin is alive right now." Though if it wasn't for Toothless, Hiccup wouldn't be top of the class. But they don't need to know that.

They're all surprised, realizing that what I said was right. Well, all except for Astrid, she knew that already.

"What, none of you noticed it? He never tried to hurt Hiccup, he was protecting him."

Again, they're all dumbfounded, minus Astrid.

"But why would it do that?" Ruffnut asks.

"Yeah, why attack one of its own to protect Hiccup?" Tuffnut adds.

"Because the Nightmare was trying to kill his best friend." I say, matter-of- factly.

"... his best friend?" Fishlegs asks.

"Yes. Look, I'd like to give you guys a quick explanation, but we don't really have the time. While we're chatting here, Stoick is chaining up Toothless, the Night Fury, and making him guide them to the nest."

Astrid's eyes become as wide as frying pans.

"What?" she mutters, barely audible.

"But that's good, right?" Fishlegs asks.

"No!" Astrid and I yell in unison.

"Creepy." mutters Tuff to Ruff, who nods.

"It's not good! If they go, they'll all die!" continues Astrid.

I quickly explain them what the queen is like, which terrifies all of them. Actually, I think Fishlegs wet his pants.

"What? We can't let them go there!" yells Snotlout.

"Glad you figured it out Snotlout."

"But, how are we supposed to do that?" asks Fishlegs timidly.

"I'm happy you asked, my friend. We can't."

"What?!" they all yell.

"It's kind of late to stop them now. But I have a plan." I tell them, rubbing my ears. Wow, they sure can yell.

"What's your plan?" asks Astrid, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Okay, Astrid, we need Hiccup. He's probably on the cliff overlooking the port. Find him, try to cheer him up somehow."

"Got it." she says and runs off.

"As for you guys," I continue, " I need you to get as much threat, fabric, bandages and medical supplies as you can carry and meet me at the ring in five minutes."

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

I'm standing at the cliff over the port, watching as the Vikings get the ships ready for their last journey. They chain Toothless and put him inside one of the ships. It hurts so much seeing this, knowing that I am the reason why he's there, that I can do nothing about it. My best friend, my f- ex-father and everyone I ever knew are sailing to their deaths and there's nothing I can do.

I've never felt so useless.

Still, even if it hurts I can't stop looking. So I stand there and watch as they disappear into the horizon.

Astrid walks up to me.

"It's a mess." she says. I don't react.

"You must feel awful. You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend."

"Thanks you for summing that up." I reply.

"Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him the woods?" I sigh. "It would have been better for everyone."

_At least then everyone wouldn't be about to die._

"Yep. The rest of us would have done it."

_Thank you for reminding me that._

"So why didn't you?"

I shake my head. That's a question I can't answer. I don't know why myself.

"Why didn't you?" she asks again.

"I don't know. I couldn't."

"That's not an answer." she insists.

"Why is so important to you all of a sudden?" I ask with irritation.

"Because I want to remember what you say right now."

"Oh, for the love of-!" I yell. " I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"You said 'wouldn't' that time." she points out calmly.

_Why is this happening? First they capture Toothless, then I get banished and disowned, everyone is going to die because I couldn't keep my mouth closed and now Astrid with those questions!_

"Whatever! I wouldn't! Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"First to ride one though."

I'm shocked. I've never thought of it that way. I was just helping my best friend.

"So..."

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as scared as I was. I looked at him and saw myself."

"I bet he's really scared now" she say, facing the ocean. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Probably something stupid."

"Okay, but you've already done that."

_Gee, __thanks._

A smile creeps over my face as I get an idea.

"Then something crazy." I say and I ran to the village.

This is so crazy it might actually work.

* * *

I'm in the ring, stuggling to open the Monstrous Nightmare's cage.

"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronkle."

I turn around to see Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Irene looking at me with folded arms.

"You thought we'd let you do this on your own?" asks Irene, walking up to me. "Sorry, but not a chance, buddy."

She gives me a light punch in the arm and I chuckle.

"Oh, you have competition, Astrid." snickers Ruffnut. Both Irene and I sent her questioning looks.

"What? Aren't you guys dating?" ask Tuffnut. Irene and I look at one another dumbfounded for a second and the burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's a good one!" laughs Irene.

"Irene and I dating!"

"Excuse me?" asks Irene, pretending to be offended.

"It's just that I kind of see you like my older sister. It'd be weird dating my sister."

"Good, cause it'd be weird going out with my little brother." she laughs and places her hand on Astrid's shoulder. "The field is clear for you girl. Just remember to invite me to the wedding."

"So what's the plan?" asks Astrid blushing, in an attempt to change the conversation.

I smile.

"Glad you asked."

I open the Nightmare's cage and slowly guide him out. This time things go smoothly, since no one interferes.

I stop in front of the others, the dragon inches from my hand, and grab Snothlout's arm.

"Wait! What are you-!"

"Relax. It's okay... it's okay..."

I replace my hand with Snotlout's. The Nightmare doesn't reacts negatively, except for a snort, and I walk away.

"Where are you going?!" asks Snotlout, scared.

"You'll need something to hold on" I say, holding up a bundle of rope.

Ten minutes later, everyone is on a dragon except for Irene. I realize that I never thought which dragon she'd ride.

"Well, I guess you'll have to ride with Snotlout, Irene."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got it covered" she smiles. She takes a deep breath and whistles.

"Um..." I say awkwardly after a few seconds of nothing happening.

"Wait for it," says Irene, counting from three to one with her fingers. The moment her last finger goes down there's a loud bam as something blasts open a hole next to the one Toothless made.

Next to Irene is now standing an orange dragon, with bright yellow eyes and dark markings on it's body that remind me of lava. There's a saddle on it's back.

"Guys, let me introduce you to Ember. Ember, the guys."

"Since... since when do you have a dragon?" I ask.

"A while now. Almost as long as you and Toothless know each other."

"Why did she blast a second hole in the roof? There was already one." asks Fishlegs, pointing at the new hole, which is currently dripping lava.

"She likes to make an entrance." answered Irene matter-of- factly. She jumps on Ember and sits down on the saddle.

"So, are we going to stay here chatting or are we going to do something crazy?" she asks, smiling like a mad man.


	16. NOW!

**Sorry it's late, technical difficulties. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

We're fly through the thick fog, getting closer to the nest. Our dragons are responsible for leading us here since we don't know how to get there. Well, their dragons. For some reason, Ember can't find the nest like the other dragons. As I told Fishlegs, who was, of course, interested, my best guess is because she's not from around here._  
_

And speaking about Fishlegs, during our flight there, he attacked me with a bunch of questions about Ember, seeing as he's never see a dragon like her before. This is how it went:

Fishlegs: What is the name of her species?

Me: Maniacs of lava. Or just maniacs' for short. At least that what the people where she comes from call them.

Fishlegs: Where does she come from?

Me: The south.

Fishlegs: What does she like to eat?

Me: Fish. But she likes chicken too. And spicy foods.

Fishlegs: What about her blasts? How many shots does she have?

Me: Eight, but if it's warm, she has more.

Fishlegs: How did you learn all that?

Me: Asked her. She's a really good mime.

Fishlegs: Wh-!

Me: Can you stop that?!

Yeah, I should work on my temper.

Anyways, we're almost at the nest, when Hiccup speaks.

"Irene, do you remember the positions for Toothless prosthetic

"Of course I do. I helped you make that cheat sheet."

"Good." He sighs, looking away from me.

Wait... I know this. That sad look, the inability to look at you in the eyes, asking you a question that has do with something important to them...

"Irene if something-!" he starts but I interrupt him before he finishes.

"Nothing will go wrong, Hiccup." I say sternly, glaring at him a bit.

"You don't know that." He sighs, looking at me for a moment, then away again.

"That thing is huge. There's nothing to guarantee that we'll all come back safe and sound."

"Hiccup, do you trust me?"

He turns at me, a bit surprised by my question, but then he nods

"Of course."

"Then take my word on one is going to die."

He looks at me for a second before smiling a little.

"I'm glad we figured this out, because we're almost there." Says Astrid.

And we are. The island is below us, blurred by the fog we're flying in. The Red Death is focused on Stoick, chasing after him.

"Okay, guys. On three we all fire. Ready?" says Hiccup. We all nod.

"Alright. One," Our dragons open their mouths...

"Two,"... gash starts building in, hissing...

"Three!"

"Showtime." I whisper.

... and we fire.

We exit the clouds, everyone on the ground looking up to us in awe.

"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs! Move, Fishlegs!" yells Hiccup as the Red Death blasts us.

"Look at us, we're on dragons! We're on dragons, all of us!" yells Tuffnut, all the Vikings not quit believing it, some of them pinching themselves or rubbing their eyes.

"Dragon riders, coming through!" I shout for everyone to hear. Someone play _Tsuna Awakens_[1], we need some dramatic music here!

"Up, let's move it!" orders Hiccup, flying upwards, the rest of us following him. We fly in a circle above the queens head.

"Fishlegs, break it down."

"Okay." replies Fishlegs, nodding. "Heavily armored skull and tail made for crushing and bashing. Steer clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils. Relies in hearing and smelling."

"Okay. Lout. Legs, hang in it's blind spots. Make some noise, keep it confused. Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit. Make it mad."

"That's my specialty." Ruffnut says with a grin that means trouble.

"Since when?" asks Tuffnut. "Everyone knows I'm more irritating. See."

He starts making weird faces and sounds, his sister joining him quickly in a battle of who is the most irritating. To be honest, I'm not sure myself.

"Just do what I told you. Irene, get everyone on the other side of the island and come back to help. I'll be back as soon as I can."

We all fly to our separate tasks. Ember dives to the ground and pulls out of the dive a couple of feet above the ground, hovering before a group of stunned Vikings.

"Okay, follow me! We need to get to the other side of the island!" I yell, holding my hand in front of my mouth like a cone.

"And why should we listen to you?!" asks a random Viking.

"Firstly, have you not noticed the dragon I'm riding on?" I asks calmly, gesturing at Ember, who's pretending to roar at them.

"Secondly, do you want to be the dirt stuck under that things foot?!" I yell, pointing at the Red Death, which is currently firing at the twins. All the Vikings nob no. It was a unanimous agreement, they did not want to be crushed by a mountain-sized dragon.

"Good. Now follow me."

I guide them to the other side of the island and tell Spitelout to stay there. I fly back to the others, just in time to see Fishlegs falling down.

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

We're flying over the ships, searching for Toothless.

"There!" I yell,) pointing at a burning ship.

We reach it and hover over it. I see Toothless struggling against his chains, but he can't break them. I jump on the burning deck, guarding my face from the flames.

"Go! Help the others!" I yell at Astrid.

She hesitates for a second but leaves.

I run at Toothless, who's shrieking at me to leave. I don't listen.

"Okay, hold on. Hold on." I say, working on the chains.

Toothless is struggling, twisting and tossing. If he's trying to help me or telling me to leave, I don't know.

I look up to see the Red Death blasting at the others, not really paying attention to much else. Irene and Ember were doing pretty well in avoiding the blasts and keeping it's attention on her.

The Red Death's giant foot comes down and crashes the ship, throwing me and Toothless in the water.

I swim towards the bottom, where Toothless is. The weight from all his chains has dragged him down and he is no longer struggling. I try to free him but it's no use. The chains are way too thick and heavy and I'm running out of breath.

I pull on them again. Maybe if I pull hard enough then…

Everything is hazy after that. Dad's hand pulls me out of the water and throws me at the shore.

"Dad…" I breath, stunned.

He doesn't hear me and dives back in the water. Moments later, Toothless and Dad jump out of the sea in an explosion of water.

Toothless shakes the water off of him and points to the Red Death.

"You got it bud." I say and jump on the saddle. We're about to take off when

Dad grabs my arm.

"Hiccup. I'm sorry. For… for everything." He says breathlessly.

"Yeah. Me too."

"You don't have to go up there."

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard." I say, using the line Dad always loves to say.

"I'm proud to call you my son."

I'm taken back. I didn't expect that. This is what I always wanted to hear him say.

"Thanks Dad."

He lets go of my arm and we take off, climbing to the sky.

"He's up!" yells Astrid.

The twins are currently fighting, throwing punches at one another. I knew they always fought, but really? They want to fight now?

"Get Snotlout out of here!" yells Astrid.

"I'm on it!" they yell in unison.

"I'm on it first! I'm ahead!" says Tuffnut.

"Same dragon!" shouts Irene.

Snotlout jumps off the Red Death and lands on the twins' Zippleback, perfectly safe.

Astrid and her Nadder are caught in the queens jaws.

"Come on buddy." I say to Toothless, who understands what I want immediately.

Toothless blast the Red Death, freeing Astrid… who falls off her dragon.

We dive towards her and Toothless catches her.

"Got her?" I asks.

Toothless grunts. We leave Astrid at the ground and fly back up.

The battle goes on for a while, each one of us falling to the ground one by one until I'm the only one left.

Spotting its wings, we fire at it, getting it so angry that it flies after us.

"Okay Toothless, time to disappear."

We shoot into the clouds for cover and begin blasting at it's wings as we avoid its fire.

"Watch out!" I yell, narrowly missing the blast. Or most of it. The prosthetic is heavily damaged.

"Time's up! Let's see if this works!"

We fly in front of it's face, taunting it.

"Come on! Is this the best you can do, you (beep!)!" I yell, Toothless roaring an insult as well. Spending so much time with Irene has helped.

I glance back and see the tail fin burning up.

"Stay with me buddy. We're good. Just a little bit longer."

The Red Death comes closer and closer.

"Hold on."

It opens its mouth, gas building up in the back of its throat.

**"NOW!"**

Toothless fires right inside its mouth. We get out of its way, trying frantically to get away.

It hits the ground, turning into a big, burning ball. The prosthetic is falling apart.

I look in front, too late to avoid its big tail.

"No. No."

It crashes into us, knocking me of Toothless and right into the fire.

The last thing I remember is falling. The everything goes black.

* * *

**I'm evil, but I love writing cliffhangers. Writing them. Not reading them. This is revenge for all the cliffhangers in books and fics that have driven me crazy.**

**[1] It's the soundtrack of Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn. It's called _Tsuna Awakens_ or at least that's what I find it like in YouTube. That music can make using the toilet seem epic. (Don't ask me how I know.**


	17. A hero to save

**Sorry for the wait. ^^;**

* * *

_Irene's POV_

Everything is white.

Well, more like a really light brown, but whatever. When the Red Death hit the ground, dust rose up, making it impossible to see.

"Hiccup? Hiccup?!" I hear Stoick yelling, desperation and fear lacing his voice.

"Hiccup?! Son?!" The dust clears up and I can now see Stoick looking around, completely lost.

The dark silhouette of Toothless stands out in the white background and Stoick, along with everyone else, run there.

"Hiccup!"

Toothless is laying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. His saddle, however, is destroyed and empty.

Stoick falls on his knees and, how run with me to Toothless, starts crying.

"Oh son... I did this..." mutters Stoick brokenly.

A circle of Vikings and Dragons forms around us, all deadly silent and all in various states of crying; some holding back tears, some wiping them

away and some not caring at all and crying their eyes out.

Speaking of crying; why, even after seeing this movie a hundred times at least, am I still crying at this scene?

I put my arm around Astrid, trying to calm her down a bit, not that I do such a good job at it.

"Why?" she mutters. "Out of everyone, why did it have to be Hiccup?"

"He knew this might happen Astrid, but he still did it. It was his choice."Not the best thing to say, but it was all I came up with.

"We all knew it. You-you said no one would die... you- you promised..."

"Astrid, look up."

She does. While the two of us were talking Toothless had opened his wings, after Stoick apologized of course, to reveal Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" exclaims Stoick, throwing off his helmet and placing his ear on Hiccup's chest, listening for his heartbeat.

"He's alive!" yells Stoick. "You brought him back alive!"

The Vikings break into loud cheers while the dragons roar in celebration.

"Thank you for saving my son." say Stoick smiling.

'Well, you know... most of him." mutters Gobber uncomfortably.

Stoick, Astrid and I look at Hiccup, about to solve the biggest mystery of HTTYD; what happened to Hiccup's leg?

I'm never going to forget what I saw. Hiccup's left leg looked like a sock full of broken cookies. It was all limp, like a noodle, bloody, with  
bones sticking out of it in places.

"Oh no..." gasps Astrid.

"Okay, listen up people!" I yell as loudly as I can. "Anyone with medical knowledge, help Hiccup! The teens have medicine and bandages! Everyone  
else, find every bit of fabric you can and sew it together! Come on people, we have a hero to save here!"

For the next couple of hours we work non-stop. Hiccup's leg is covered in creams and wrapped in bandages, while we've made a big blanket. We make Toothless lay on it and and Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins and Astrid carry it with their dragons, while I tie Hiccup tightly on Ember's back.

We fly them back to the village as fast as we can and then bring everyone else.

* * *

_Hiccup's POV_

I slowly open my eyes, blinking to clear my vision.

T-Toothless?

"Oh, hey Toothless." I say groggily. Toothless nuzzles and nudges me like he hasn't seen me for years.

"Okay, okay! I'm happy to see you too, bud. Now just-"

A piercing pain runs through me, making me sit upright with a yelp.

"I'm... in my house." I say confused. My eyes widen, looking at Toothless smiling at me.

"You're in my house."

Toothless runs and bounces around the room, unable to contain himself.

"Uh, does my dad knows you're here?!"

Toothless stops at the foot of my bed, shaking, his tongue wagging. But just for a moment, because he continues bouncing around.

"Okay, okay- no Toothless! Aw, come on-" I say getting out of bed when I stop.

Something isn't right.

Toothless stops and comes close to me, watching me worried.

I pull back the cover and set my right foot on the floor. Nothing wrong here.

I do the same with the left. But my leg isn't there.

I... I lost my leg.

Toothless sniffs it and looks up at me apologetically.

That's right... Toothless already went through something like this. So did Gobber. If they can manage it, so can I.

I hold onto the bedpost for support and try to stand up.

"Okay, okay-" I try to walk, stumble and fall but Toothless catches me.

"Thanks bud." I say smiling. I lean on him like a crutch and we walk slowly.

We reach the door and I open it. A Monstrous Nightmare is outside, flapping it's wings. Yelping, I slam the door shut.

"Toothless... stay here, bud." I say and hesitantly open the door again. I peek outside and my eyes widen.

It can't be...

The village is full of dragons. And no one is attacking them. Snotlout is on his Nightmare and he's teaching some Vikings, dragons are sitting on the  
rooftops and a Gronkle flies in the village carrying a tree.

"I knew it. I'm dead." Yep. I've died and gone to heaven.

"No, but you gave it your best try." Laughs Dad, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah, you did. Astrid will be furious with you." Adds Irene, with Ember by her side.

"Thank you for the good news." I reply sarcastically.

"No problem."

"So, what do you think?" Asks Dad, gesturing to the village.

I don't answer, I'm speechless.

The Vikings notice me and they run up the hill, shouting wishes.

"Turns out all we needed was a little more of this." Says Dad, gesturing to me.

"You just gestured to all of me." I say, playing along.

"Well, most of you." Says Gobber, walking past the crowd.

"That bit is my handiwork. With a little Hiccup flare thrown in. Think it'll do?"

"I might make a few tweaks." I tease him.

Everybody laughs, but I stop when someone punches me. It's Astrid.

"That's for scaring me." She says plainly.

"What, is it always going to be like this? Because-" I start but Astrid stops me. By _kissing_ me.

Dear Thor, is this really happening?

"I could get used to it." I say, when I get back the ability to talk. She smiles and... wait, is she _blushing_?

"Welcome home." Says Gobber, handing me a new saddle and tail.

"Night Fury! Get down!"

Groans and grunts broke out as Toothless jumps on the Viking's head to reach me. I need to tell him not to do that.

"Wanna go flying?" I ask Astrid and Irene with a grin.


	18. Secret revealed

_Hiccup's POV_

We're at the bridge near the ring, talking._  
_

Apparently, flying right after you woke up from a coma wasn't such a good idea. We almost crushed on so many things, one of them being Irene, that  
Astrid said we better land before I crush on a sea stack.

When we landed, Irene said she had something to do, so she left. I wonder what it was.

"So, what happened after me and Toothless fell?" I ask.

"That really big dragon hit the ground," starts Ruffnut.

"And there was dust everywhere, you couldn't see anything." Continues Tuffnut.

"Uncle Stoick was really worried. Well, all of us were."

"Toothless protected you." Adds Astrid. "He wrapped you with his wings. He saved you. Except your leg. It was horrible Hiccup. It could have been  
much worse if Irene hadn't done something."

"Irene?" I ask. She never mentioned anything. And knowing her, she would have with some joke.

"Yes. You should have seen it!" says Fishlegs. "She took over like she does it all the time. She had told us to bring some things, like medicine and fabric. We didn't know what she wanted them for at first, but it was good we listened to her. It was like she knew we were going to need them."

_ Like she knew we were going to need them…_

_ *Flash*_

_ Once we're outside we run to the forge, avoiding the Vikings who charge into battle. Me, I do this practically every day, I'm used to it. But Irene doesn't. Which is weird because she moves like she've done this a thousand times, every step on the right spot, she makes avoiding big buffy Vikings seem easy._

_ *Flash*_

_ "They need toothpicks, don't they?" ask both Gobber and Irene the same time._

_Okay, expected that from Gobber, but Irene too? I guess Gobber agreed with me because we both stared at her like she grew a second head._

_ "He he" she chuckles nervously._

_ *Flash*_

_ The moment my hand touches the canon Irene, who were in its line of fire, ducks down just a second before a bola flies over her head, Gobber's head, the head of the villager behind Gobber and hits the villager behind the villager behind Gobber._

_ *Flash*_

_ "When that happens Vikings will fly and I'll eat my helmet" says Snotlout and I don't miss Irene's big smile, like he just said a joke only she could understand._

_ *Flash*_

_ While I'm there I notice how Irene moves. No, not in a creepy way, it's just that it seems like she knows where the dragon will go, moving like this is some kind of choreography._

_ *Flash*_

_ "Yeah, right. I wanna hear you say that in five years from now" I comment smiling, getting 'WTF' look from the twins._

_ *Flash*_

_ We walk the rest of the way to the cove in silence, Irene leading the way. It strikes as weird at first, but then I remember that she said she followed me so that must be why she know the way._

_ *Flash*_

She always did… Irene always seemed strangely confident, she always had that air around her like she knew something we didn't

"Guys, does any of you know where Irene is?" I ask.

They all shake their heads 'no'. I jump on Toothless' back and fly over the village, the others following closely behind me. Thankfully, there's not much to crush into.

After a couple of minutes, I see Irene sitting on the edge of a cliff with Ember. We dive down and land behind her.

"Oh, hi Hiccup." She says, smiling.

"Irene, we need to talk."

"About what?"

I take a deep breath and look at her, standing near the edge, completely serious.

"How did you know that you should bring medicine and bandages before we left for the nest?"

"Common sense." She replies. "We would need them if someone got hurt."

"What about when you and Gobber said the exact same thing the same time? Or when you ducked down to avoid my bola cannon a second too fast?  
All those times you moved like you knew exactly where to step? You've always seemed to know something more than we did. So what's going on?

For the first time since I've meet Irene, she looks worried. She sighs heavily and looks at us.

"Well, I guess I should tell you the truth, but you'll never believe me."

"We're riding dragons. That's pretty hard to believe, but it's real. What would be stranger than that? Are you a fortune teller by any chance?" asks  
Snotlout.

Just for a moment, there's a look of surprise on Irene's face, but it's quickly replaced with a smirk.

"For once, you got it right, Snotlout." She says.

"What do you mean?" asks Astrid.

"I did know what would happen. You could say the Gods showed me."

"Well, that would explain a lot-" I start, but Astrid interrupts me.

"If you knew, then why didn't you do anything to save Hiccup's leg? He could still have it if you had done something!"

"Don't you think I've thought of that?!" yells Irene. To mine, and everyone's surprise, there are tears in her eyes, but she wipes them away quickly.

"What if I had tried something and he lost more than his leg? What if he died Astrid?! I don't know about you, but I couldn't take that risk!"

Astrid looks at her surprised and then her eyes fall down.

"I couldn't either." She whispers, but it's loud enough for us to hear.

"Yeah, and the new leg is nothing I can't get used to." I add, trying to cheer everyone up. Irene and Astrid smile at me, but then Irene gasps.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaims and walks up to Snotlout, taking off his helmet and holding it in front of him.

"Well, come on. Won't you eat it?" she asks.

"Why would I do that? asks Snotlout, confused, just like the rest of us.

"Don't you remember? At our first day of dragon training. I told you Hiccup would be a hero." She says, smiling at me at the last part.

"But you said that would happen when Vikings fly and if it did, you'd eat your helmet. Well, both of those things happened, so here's your lunch."

For the next couple of minutes, we try to hold back our laughter as Snotlout tries to eat his helmet.

"Good enough." Says Irene after ten minutes. Snotlout spits out his helmet and starts spitting on the ground.

"From now on, I'll clean that thing more."

Suddenly, I find myself in one of Irene's bone-crushing hugs.

"What was that for?" I ask when she releases me.

"It's time I go home. Goodbye Hiccup." She smiles softly at me.

She turns around and walks to the cliff. Too late, I understand what she's doing.

"Irene!" I yell, running to catch her but she's already jumped off.

I look down, seeing her and Ember falling to the waves below. Just before they hit, there's a flash of light and... they're gone.

* * *

_Irene's POV_

"Irene! Irene! Mum! Mum, she's waking up!"

… Alex?

I slowly open my eyes, but close them again. It's too bright. I try again and this time I make it.

I'm lying on a bed and everything is white. I'm in a hospital. My sister, my mum and a guy dressed in white, a doctor, is looking at me.

"Mum?" I ask, sitting up, but I'm soon tackled back to the bed by mum.

"Irene! Oh, you're alright! Thank God!"

"Mum… you're squeezing the daylights out of me." I choke out. Mum lets go of me and the doctor puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Now now miss, your daughter just woke up from a one-week coma. You should give her some space. We have some test to run on her too."

One week? But… I was at Berk for a month and a half at least.

Was it all a dream? I remember everything, from when I woke up on the island to when Pest brought the letter with the location I should be in to come back to my world. It's too clear to be a dream.

That's the question stuck in my head as I do several exam, finally to be diagnosed completely healthy.

An hour later, we leave the hospital, walking home when an orange cat with brown markings rubs against my legs.

"You're still here?" ask Alex.

"That cat has been here since you fell on a coma, it always came close to us, like it was asking whether you were alright." Explains Mum.

The cat looks up at me with eyes that I could recognize from miles. Bright, mischievous yellow eyes.

"Hey, Mum? Can we keep her?" I ask.

"Well, we'll have to get her to the vet. But ok. Only thing, you'll have to take care of her. Deal?"

"Deal." I smile. "Come on Ember, let's go home."

* * *

**And it's finished! Thanks to every one who read this! Cookies for every one! Pest, stop eating the cookies!**

**And now, some notices:**

**1\. There WILL be a sequel to this.**

**2\. For those waiting for the sequels of 'How to become a hero the hard way' and 'How to become a heroine' the hard way, you're lucky, because I finaly found the script, ;)**


End file.
